Despite many good intentions but faced with hotels that had still not opened by mid-May 2021, we finally had to declare the 2020 Netanya residential workshop not merely postponed for a year, but cancelled. Instead, we divided the presentations into two separate days, held the first and last week of June, in Netanya and Haifa respectively.
So on June 7th, twenty poets gathered, for the first time in over a year, in the spacious apartment of our past president Susan Olsburgh, overlooking the Netanya seafront.
There were three presentations, each followed by a writing exercise and time for participants to read the poems written during the exercise period:
- Eli Ben-Joseph from the Western Galilee Voices group, gave a presentation on “Composing on Achievement,” using Robert Frost’s “After Apple Picking” for inspiration.
- Judy Koren from the Haifa Voices group, our current President, gave her thoughts, entitled “The Poetry of Emotion,” on how to arouse a reader’s emotional connection to a poem, using examples from Wordsworth to the current day.
- Luiza Carol of the Netanya group, under the title “Cooking Up a Poem,” ranged widely over different aspects of food – cooking, growing, and decorating it – using as examples for inspiration poems by Emily Dickinson and William Carlos Williams; Jewish blessings of food; and a selection of paintings by famous artists.
The participants were invited to submit poems written during the workshop, or edited versions of them, for publication in the workshop chapbook, and our own Johnmichael Simon generously volunteered to design it. It was then produced by Judy Koren. Both Voices Israel members and the general public may order a copy from this website, using our PayPal Me account, by clicking on the following button:
If you don’t see the button, use this link: PayPal.me/VoicesIsrael
You will be asked to log in to your PayPal account and then fill in the amount to send Voices Israel and a note saying what the payment is for. Please also send an email to whoever is distributing them (currently, our President Judy Koren: president.voices@gmail.com) giving your current postal address.
A few photos of the event:
The presenters with hostess Susan Olsburgh and (right-hand side) participant Susan Bell.
Dr. Eli Ben-Joseph giving his presentation.
A lunch-time group on the balcony
And a lunch-time group inside
Voices Israel Group of Poets in English 