“Poetry on the Slant”

THE Airedale Writers’ Circle started the season with an inspiring visit from established poet Alison Chisholm, who has scribbled verse since childhood but stepped up when her offspring went to school.

Always intrigued by the mechanics of poetry, she submitted a piece to Writing Magazine on slant rhymes.

Months later the new editor rang her to say he was publishing it. He explained he wanted contributors who could submit articles about writing and his regular writer had let him down.

A case of professional luck - the right article at the right moment. Alison never looked back.

She has written dedicatedly in Writing Magazine every month for 30 years. Even her mother’s untimely death didn’t stop her getting her copy in on time.

She has now published a book on slant rhymes. These include consonance, assonance, alliteration, repetition, half rhymes and eye rhymes which work to differentiate free verse from prose, making the verse sing without conventional rhyming. English has a huge number of words to choose from, making slant rhymes relatively easy to achieve.

Line breaks are crucial to the success of anything written in free verse; placing emphasis on the last word or syllable helps the eye to move to the next line, creates a pause.

If stanzas are used, they must have an inherent integrity to the meaning.

Alison also runs and judges the magazine’s poetry competitions. Our group was properly engaged by her tips on how to maximise chances of winning.

Things as simple as poor grammar and punctuation, not putting a title and not obeying the rules (for example submitting rhyming couplets to a specification of free verse in four line stanzas) are enough to put the judges off from the start.

Every poem is approached as though it is going to be the winner.

One in ten goes into the potential pile to be then read several times.

Alison publishes the successful poem, the name of the runner up and a report on all the submissions.

She told us her buzz points are anything that is new or different in the use of words, rhyme, rhythm, metaphors.

For her, reading and judging the work of others is a privilege.

We were given many recommendations on how to beef up our own poetic muscle.

For example, you should read 20 poems for every one you write. Use rhyming dictionaries – not a cheat, the free App Rhymezone is very good.

Do exercises like thinking of anything that rhymes or slant rhymes with any three letter word.

Scribble down thoughts as you have them, on anything that comes to hand. Never throw anything away – it may always be useful, way into the future.

Alison’s warmth, enthusiasm and expertise as a successful poet in her own right got our whole group absorbed in weighing up what makes poetry, in what was a most instructive and enjoyable evening.

If you would like to join us, our circle’s meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at Sight Airedale in Scott Street, Keighley.

For more information go to the Airedale Writers’ Circle website.