What I Believe About Writing
I don't think one needs to have always liked reading or writing to be a good writer. What they need is an opportunity to express themselves in a safe environment. Poetry isn't only for academics or men smoking pipes. Writing a poem can be easy. Poetry is a condensed form of story telling, conveying our emotions and experiences. I believe everyone has endless stories that can be written about. I'll help you get your stories on the page and craft them into poetry that will move, inspire, and educate others. For the class, I chose to use the image of a Cypress tree. Traditionally trees symbolize life, they never stop growing, reaching down to the ground and up to the sky at the same time. The Cypress tree represents Longevity, Healing, Comfort, and Protection.
About Steven Reigns
I have taught Write Now, a creative writing workshop for GLBT youth groups across the country and people for people living with HIV and AIDS.
I earned a degree in Creative Writing from The University of South Florida. In 2001, my collection of poetry and short-short fiction, Your Dead Body is My Welcome Mat, was published. I have since been published in Support-line, Out on the Coast, TLW, Watermark, In Other Words, Riverbabble, Phire, Sunscripts, I Can't Stop Shaking, XY, and Velvet Mafia, and was even featured as Mr. November in The Most Intriguing (and Sensual) Male Poets of 2006 Calendar. I served as Literary Director of The Center in Tampa, Florida for three years before relocating to Los Angeles. I have been a keynote speaker at the American Library Associations National Annual Meeting and at Rollins College. I have given presentations at Hillsborough County Library, University of Central Florida, Arizona State University, Silver Meteor Gallery, St. Petersburg Pride, Tampa Film Festival, West Hollywood Book Fair, Michael Kearns Gallery, and numerous other venues. In 2005, I attended a three week residency at The Atlantic Center for the Arts where I studied poetry under Sapphire. In Febuary 2008, I organed an Anais Nin @ 105 at the Hammer Museum. In March of 2010, I will have a new collection, Inheritance, published by Lethe Press.
For more information visit www.stevenreigns.com.
