Pay Attention; Even Limericks Have A Style
In answer to a recent call (March 15) for limericks, I’ve already received 60 responses, some of which contain multiple efforts. Reading through them, I’ve noticed two things:
One, some of you aren’t paying attention to the topic I assigned. I want limericks that reflect life in the Inland Northwest. I don’t want limericks that make fun of the sexual habits of well-known American presidents (although I did chuckle over one or two of them).
Two, some of you aren’t paying attention to limerick form.
Limericks have a specific rhyme and meter. The rhyme scheme is five lines, with line one, two and five rhyming, and lines three and four rhyming. As in, AA, BB, A. The meter is just as restrictive.
Strictly speaking, it’s anapestic, which refers to lines that utilize three syllables, the first two unstressed, the third stressed.
For example, read the following lines aloud and listen to the way they sound:
On the way to the store I met John,
who was mad at the cracks I’d stepped on.
He told me my mom,
would come to great harm,
and so I just laughed and hopped on.
OK, so it’s not the best example (sue me, I’m on deadline). And, of course, some great limericks vary slightly from the norm. But I think you get the point.
Remember: Your deadline is Monday (postmarked by then at least). Send your efforts to: Limerick Contest, Features Department, The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, WA 99210. Or e-mail them to danw@spokesman.com.
Fishing for listeners
In case you don’t trust that a literary reading by a first-time novelist would be worth your time, listen to what Booklist had to say about Robert Lee’s first novel, “Guiding Elliott.”
“This epistolary novel has Montana fishing guide Donnie Phillips (nicknamed “Number Three” for his pecking order in choosing clients) sending letters to a Manhattan fishing club,” wrote reviewer Kevin Grandfield. “Instead of good fishing advice, they reveal more about small-town antics and age-old rivalries: easterners vs. midwesterners, tourists vs. natives, bosses vs. employees, men vs. woman. Like many Mark Twain narrators, Donnie has a homespun voice and cannot fathom why life does not play by his rules.”
The plot thickens as members of the fishing club flock to Donnie’s bed-and-breakfast.
“Readers, too, will want to visit these characters for a spell,” Grandfield wrote.
Wow. Comparisons to Mark Twain.
Lee is set to read at Auntie’s next Saturday (see below).
Touched by an angel
Spokane writer Niki Anderson, author of “What My Cat Has Taught Me About Life: Meditations for Cat Lovers,” received a silver Angel Award at a ceremony Feb. 26 in Hollywood. Angel Awards, sponsored by the group Excellence in Media, are given to “creative people” in various forms of media whose work reflects “high moral or spiritual or social worth.”
The reader board
Edward Espe Brown, author of “Tomato Blessings and Radish Teachings,” will discuss his book at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Auntie’s Bookstore, Main and Washington.
Spokane poet Anita Endrezze, author of “Lost Rivers: Contemporary American Indian Poetry,” will read from her book at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Auntie’s Bookstore.
Robert Lee, author of “Guiding Elliott,” will read from his novel at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Auntie’s Bookstore.
, DataTimes