What Is ‘Classic Stellyism’?
Posted By timothy on August 27, 2011
I joined the Prolific Writers Network (a Yahoo group) in August 2005. The site was the brainchild of Linda Dominique Grosvenor and offered writers not only a venue to post their work, but provided tips, news, exercises, excerpts and feedback for members. Those who posted excerpts were provided brief comments and editing advice free of charge. This is the site where I cut my poetic teeth, and I have a lot of people at PWN to thank not only for my growth as a poet, but also as a novelist.
The best thing about PWN was Poetry Day. Each week, those writers who so dared, posted their poetic efforts on the site, and on Wednesday mornings I looked forward to opening my mailbox, knowing I’d be greeted by anywhere from 20-50 poems. I would spend the morning reading the various pieces and the feedback offered from other readers. Many of the writers were already published and/or already known in poetry circles, including Ms, Grosvenor, Marcus Harris, E. Joyce Moore, Jackie Young, Walee, Shai Lynn K. Davis and Tzynya Pinchback among others.
I was a novice at poetry, and while I hadn’t posted a single piece, I offered my comments on every piece that I read. Finally after some lighthearted prodding from some of the members, I began to post my work: first a piece a week and then three at a time, including a haiku. Over the next two years I began to feel comfortable as I saw the improvement in my poetic skill.
During this time I learned many different styles, experimented with them, and passed them on to members of the group. Learning such a diversity helped my writing by forcing me to think inside the box. I learned to say more, even when comfined by meter, rhyme-scheme and syllabic count.
Sometimes a unique or particularly witty line would be referred to by Walee as “classic Stellyism.” Fellow poet Shai Lynn K. Davis thought that would make a nice title for my first book of poetry, that is, if I could muster up the nerve to try and publish one.
That I did, but without success. Three rejection letters from Third World Press later, I decided to self-publish through Lulu. Like the type of sex sought by teenage boys, the process was quick and free. Now that poetic dream is a reality, and my 38-page chapbook CLASSIC STELLYISM is available online: http://tinyurl.com/3q8hcna
The book includes prize-winning free verse C’mon Condi. (winner of the 2005 pout-erotic contest), erotic ventures (Ooze Bulletin, Red Phone, 3 A.M.), social commentary (A Mother’s Plea, Message to the Young Black Athlete), and relationships (Scorned) to poems on impotence (Pre-mature Ejac-You-Lay-Shun) and even horror (Creature In The Murkiness). The styles implemented range from haiku, sonnets, etherees (my favorite style) and a waltz wave to styles I came up with: the stellku and mixed etheree, to experimental styles such as the lilibonelle.
Having penned more than 1100 poems in just under a decade, I plan to publish a more voluminous work in the future. For now, I present to the world a glimpse of my poetic style, a gondola ride through the sometimes tempestuous rivers of life, CLASSIC STELLYISM.
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