For the storyteller, for the arrowmaker, language does indeed represent the only chance for survival.
N. Scott MomadayRead
Sometimes, I think the best kind of poem is one in which there is an acute balance between what is humorous and that which is very serious. That balance is very hard to strike. But it can be done.
Interpretation
The best poetry achieves a delicate balance between humor and seriousness.
N. Scott Momaday highlights the complexity of poetry, suggesting that the most impactful poems successfully blend humor with serious themes. This balance allows the poem to resonate more deeply with the reader, as it reflects the multifaceted nature of human experience. Striking this balance is a challenging yet rewarding endeavor for poets.
In practice
A poetry workshop focusing on how to integrate humor into serious themes.
For the storyteller, for the arrowmaker, language does indeed represent the only chance for survival.
There is a great good in returning to a landscape that has had extraordinary meaning in one's life. It happens that we return to such places in our minds irresistibly. There are certain villages and towns, mountains and plains that, having seen them walked in them lived in them even for a day, we keep forever in the mind's eye. They become indispensable to our well-being; they define us, and we say, I am who I am because I have been there, or there.
Writing is not a matter of choice. Writers have to write. It is somehow in their temperament, in the blood, in tradition.
My father was a painter and he taught art. He once said to me, 'I never knew an Indian child who could not draw.'
Indians are marvelous storytellers. In some ways, that oral tradition is stronger than the written tradition.
Coyotes have the gift of seldom being seen; they keep to the edge of vision and beyond, loping in and out of cover on the plains and highlands. And at night, when the whole world belongs to them, they parley at the river with the dogs, their higher, sharper voices full of authority and rebuke. They are an old council of clowns, and they are listened to.
Poetry is not easy. Or should I say, real poetry is not easy.
Meanwhile, let us have a sip of tea. The afternoon glow is brightening the bamboos, the fountains are bubbling with delight, the soughing of the pines is heard in our kettle. Let us dream of evanescence, and linger in the beautiful foolishness of things.
I knew that you couldn't make a living simply writing about the outdoors, so I made an effort from the beginning of my freelance career to write about other subjects.
The mind of a writer can be a truly terrifying thing. Isolated, neurotic, caffeine-addled, crippled by procrastination, consumed by feelings of panic, self-loathing, and soul-crushing inadequacy. And that’s on a good day.
People often called us perfectionists, but we were not looking for perfection. We were looking for some kind of magic in the music.
When I was in high school, I felt totally alienated from the world, but I loved movies. They were my escape, but coming from a disadvantaged community, I never knew that filmmaking was an option for me. A program like School of Doc would have been a game-changer.
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