Roethke and Writing

03/11/2025

Margaret Atwood tells all about herself

A sharp, funny and engaging autobiography from one of the towering literary figures of our age

03/11/2025

America loved him for snowy woods and roads not taken—but Robert Frost was writing from a place most of us pray we never visit.
Robert Frost wasn't the gentle grandfather figure reciting poems by a fireplace. He was a man who clawed beauty out of unbearable heartbreak, who turned grief into verse because it was the only way to survive it.
His poems sounded calm, pastoral, even comforting. But his life was a catalogue of devastation that would have broken most people before they wrote a single line.
Frost grew up poor and anxious in San Francisco—a fiercely intelligent boy who read by candlelight because that's all the light his family could afford. Stability was something other families had, never his.
When Robert was eleven, his father drank himself to death from tuberculosis. His mother, overwhelmed and desperate, turned to spiritualism and séances, trying to reach the dead husband who'd left them with nothing.
By the time Frost was twenty, he'd already buried his first child—a son named Elliott who died of cholera at just four years old. That kind of pain either destroys you or transforms you. For Frost, it did both.
The rest of his life became a terrible tug-of-war between creation and collapse.
He tried everything before committing to poetry—farmhand, schoolteacher, newspaper editor—and failed at all of them. Money was always scarce. Recognition was nowhere. His wife Elinor, whom he loved desperately, grew increasingly frail and depressed under the weight of their hardships.
By age 38, Frost was broke, exhausted, and running out of hope. In what felt like a last desperate gamble, he sold the family farm and moved his wife and children to England.
That decision changed everything.
In a small rented cottage near Beaconsfield, England, working in obscurity with nothing to lose, Frost wrote the poems that would make him immortal:
"The Road Not Taken"
"Mending Wall"
"After Apple-Picking"
"Birches"
To readers, they looked pastoral—charming observations about New England nature and rural life. But beneath that deceptive simplicity, Frost had hidden razor blades: loneliness, indecision, the violence of choice, the weight of isolation, the impossibility of truly connecting with another human being.
He once said, "A poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom."
His began in pain and ended in survival.
Tragedy never stopped following him. It haunted him like his own shadow.
Two more of his children died young. His beloved wife Elinor, the one constant in his chaotic life, eventually passed away, leaving him shattered. His son Carol, struggling with depression, took his own life.
Frost carried that accumulating grief into every poem he wrote. That's why his woods felt real—not as pretty scenery for greeting cards, but as sanctuary. He wrote about nature not to escape people, but to forgive them, and himself, for being so impossibly human and fragile.
His famous line "I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep" wasn't a gentle encouragement. It was a man reminding himself he had to keep going, even when everything in him wanted to stop.
Then came January 20, 1961.
At 86 years old, white-haired and weathered by decades of loss, Robert Frost stood on the inaugural platform in Washington, D.C. John F. Kennedy had asked him to read at his inauguration—making Frost the first poet ever given such an honor.
He'd written a new poem specially for the occasion called "Dedication." He stood there in the freezing sunlight, the future of a nation watching, and lifted his paper to read.
The winter sun glared off the snow. The wind whipped the pages in his hands. The glare was blinding—he couldn't see a single word.
For a moment, it looked like disaster. Humiliation on the national stage. The old poet squinting at paper he couldn't read, the ceremony stalling.
But Robert Frost had spent his entire life turning potential disaster into something else.
He lifted his head. Set the paper aside. And recited "The Gift Outright"—a different poem entirely—from memory. Every word perfect. Every line landing with the weight of hard-earned wisdom.
What could have been his most embarrassing moment became one of the most moving performances in American history. Because that's what Frost did: he took what was broken and made it sing anyway.
Robert Frost wasn't a soft poet of snowy woods and gentle wisdom.
He was a survivor who stitched philosophy to grief with the precision of someone who knew both intimately.
He didn't write about nature's peace—he wrote about how to keep walking when peace is gone, when you've buried children and spouses and dreams, when the only sound left is your own heartbeat against the cold, and you still have miles to go.
His poems weren't escapes from suffering. They were maps for navigating it.
When you read "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," you're not reading about a pleasant winter scene. You're reading about a man so tired he's tempted to stop moving, to let the snow cover him, to give in—but who chooses to keep his promises instead.
When you read "The Road Not Taken," you're not getting a cheerful message about individualism. You're getting Frost's admission that we never really know if we made the right choice, that we make up stories about our decisions to live with them, that ambiguity follows us forever.
His poetry wasn't comforting in the way we pretend it is. It was honest in a way that actually helps.
Robert Frost lived to be 88. He outlived nearly everyone he loved. He won four Pulitzer Prizes. He became one of America's most beloved poets—though often for reasons he would have found ironic.
But he earned every word he wrote. With loss. With perseverance. With the refusal to let heartbreak have the final say.
When he died in 1963, he left behind poems that millions memorize without knowing the darkness they came from.
Maybe that's the point. Maybe that's the gift.
He transformed unspeakable pain into beautiful language so that the rest of us could have words for our own struggles—words that sound calm but hold us steady when nothing else can.
Robert Frost (1874-1963)
Four-time Pulitzer Prize winner
The poet who taught America that darkness and beauty aren't opposites—they're collaborators.
The man who kept walking through woods so dark he shouldn't have survived—and left footprints for the rest of us to follow.


~99 Second stories

29/10/2025

Attention aspiring writers! Author Carlos Ramet will present a talk on "What Makes the Novel Novel?" on Wednesday, November 5 at 6:30pm at Hoyt. Register at: https://www.saginawlibrary.org/event/natl-novel-writing-month-speaker-dr-carlos-ramet-27610.

09/10/2025

Nobel prize in literature

Hungarian writer Laszlo Krasznahorkai won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday "for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art".

09/10/2025

For Banned Books Week, we're honoring an author who has stood up for the freedom to read for over fifty years -- Judy Blume! The beloved author of many Mighty Girl favorites such as "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret", "Deenie", and "Tiger Eyes," Blume has been writing children's and young adult fiction for decades.

What many of Judy Blume's young fans rarely realized, however, is that the frank discussion of topics like religion, puberty, and sexuality in her books -- the same honesty that makes them so appealing to young readers -- made her one of the most frequently challenged children's authors. As she once observed, by the 1980s, “censors crawled out of the woodwork, organized and determined. Not only would they decide what their children could read but what all children could read... Suddenly books were seen as dangerous to young minds.”

Even as a relatively new author, though, instead of bowing to the criticisms, Blume persisted in writing openly and honestly about issues affecting young people -- and speaking up for authors, teachers, librarians, and others who face disapproval, insults, and even the loss of jobs and careers because they refuse to remove books from the hands of young readers. As such, she has become a champion for children's freedom to read -- and authors' freedom to write -- about topics that some find controversial.

Banned Book Week is an annual event which celebrates the freedom to read and the highlights the value of free and open access to information. In honor of Banned Books Week 2025, we are proud to present our tribute to Judy Blume's career, both as an author of many beloved Mighty Girl books and as a determined and forceful voice against censorship and book banning. In a time when Blume's books still face challenges, her experiences combating censorship -- and her powerful words about the value of making complex and daring books accessible to kids -- are more important than ever.

To read our blog post, "Protecting 'The Books That Will Never Be Written'": Judy Blume's Fight Against Censorship," visit https://www.amightygirl.com/blog/?p=7425

For two inspiring books about girls fighting against censorship in schools - both for ages 9 to 12 - we highly recommend "Ban This Book" (https://www.amightygirl.com/ban-this-book) and "Property of the Rebel Librarian" (https://www.amightygirl.com/property-of-the-rebel-librarian)

For children's books about girls living in real-life societies throughout history with little respect for freedom of expression, visit our blog post "The Fragility of Freedom: Mighty Girl Books About Life Under Authoritarianism" at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=32426

For a thought-provoking young adult novel exploring censorship, we recommend "Suggested Reading" for ages 14 and up at https://www.amightygirl.com/suggested-reading

And for Mighty Girl stories that pay tribute to the transformative power of books, check out our blog post "Celebrating a Love of Reading: 35 Mighty Girl Stories about Books, Libraries, and Literacy" at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=11656

04/10/2025

01/10/2025

On Sunday, Oct. 12, mid-Michigan author Carol Sanford will deliver readings of her poetry in the gallery at Creative 360, at 5501 Jefferson Ave. in Midland.

“We are so pleased to welcome fall once again with this presentation from Carol,” said Performing Arts Program Director Laura Brigham. “Her work speaks to so many people.”

Sanford will read from her latest chapbook, “Night Signals,” as well as a current manuscript that is not yet titled. (Title suggestions from the audience welcome). Several of her books will be available for sale and there will be light refreshments.

“Creative 360 is such a positive space for the community,” says Sanford. “It feels like the perfect place for sharing my work.”

The reading runs 2 - 4 pm. Admission is $10 with all proceeds going to the arts and wellness non-profit.

Tickets can be purchased by calling Creative 360 at 989-837-1885 or online at becreative360.org

26/09/2025

Celebrated Midland author J.C. Vande Zande has just the thing to stoke the thrill and adrenaline rush of this Halloween season: a new horror novel, Blood of the Witness Tree.

24/06/2025

Taking a break with Mary Oliver...

19/06/2025

Story by Janet I Martineau

It most certainly is taking a village (adult version) to “Celebrate the Life and Legacy of Roz Berlin” — from 1-3pm Saturday, June 21, at Creative 360 in Midland.

Participants are coming from St. Helen in northern Michigan, Detroit, Denver and her lifelong home of Saginaw. Singers, instrumentalists, poets, actors, directors, performing and sharing memories; friends and family.

Berlin (first name actually Rosalind) died in November 2024 at the age of 86, and Saturday’s celebration serves as her delayed funeral service, so to speak. Organized by Linda Z. Smith, a longtime collaborator and friend of Berlin.

Smith is hoping people who didn’t know Roz will attend the free event to “learn about this remarkable woman and her life and go away thinking about the legacy she leaves.”

Berlin, a fiber artist and weaver, is perhaps best known for her creation of a Rainbowoven Forest of 400 colorful trees celebrating nature. Roots and branches included. From 2 feet tall to 14 feet.

Over the years they were displayed in walk-through installations at Midland Center for the Arts, Saginaw Valley State University, Midland Community Center and in Traverse City… and often taking place in amongst them were poetry readings, Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest,” dance and music performances.

Smith noted Berlin’s family has donated them and her looms to Creative 360, located 5501 Jefferson, and they will obviously play a part in the celebration — most notably the massive willow tree.

With a chuckle Smith recalls often watching the exacting Berlin and her son Abe installing those trees for several showings. It could take up to a week. “They worked effortlessly as a team. So precise. It was a matter of one inch this way or one inch that way when the rest of us were muttering ‘let’s just get it done.’”

But, says Smith, Berlin was so much more than just those trees, citing that she was instrumental in the formation of Creative 360, in 1994; taught art in schools and community centers; served as the president of River Junction Poets; wove clothing and shawls in addition to the trees; won an All Area Arts Award from the Saginaw Arts and Enrichment Commission, in 2011.

Although she was a practicing Episcopalian, says Smith, “Native American culture was a big deal for her and her spirituality.” The two of them never missed a going to a pow wow together throughout the state, including the upper peninsula.

Thus as people arrive Saturday, starting at 12:15pm, a woman’s drum circle will greet them, consisting of Native Americans from various tribes across the state.

Harpist Dee Dee Tibbits and bagpiper Dennis Lowe will play a role at the request of son Abe. Smith recalls Abe being enchanted at a young age hearing a harpist play among his mother’s trees, and the bagpiper is an homage to the family’s Scottish roots.

Poetry was another big deal in Berlin’s life, says Smith. Her mother was a poet and her daughter published a book of her poems; she was a long time member of the River Junction Poets, and she was a devotee of Pulitzer-winning Saginaw native poet Theodore Roethke, often participating in marathon readings of his works.

Poetry readings on Saturday will include works by e.e. cummings, Mary Oliver, Margaret Atwood, C. L. Tewksbury, and “The Waking” by Roethke.

Coming from the Detroit area are the mother and daughter of Lencha and Alena Acker. Back before Creative 360, Berlin and Smith and others were involved in a performance group called The Triad and a youth group called Not Just Vanilla.

The Triad, says Smith, consisted of a weaver, poet and dancer. Not Just Vanilla was a group for second through sixth graders, immersing them in weaving, dance, poetry, the humanities.

Lencha taught for Not Just Vanilla, says Smith, and her daughter took a lot of Roz’s classes. “Roz was really good at teaching children, using puppets and teddy bears. She never grew up. She would bring her trees and the kids would play with them.

“We are hoping some of those former students attend because they would be around 50 years old now.”

And to wrap this up, Berlin also added matchmaker to her résumé.

Reading Roethke’s “The Waking” is Smith’s son-in-law, Sam Knights, married to Pari Smith. Knights is now a noted Roethke scholar.

As Smith tells it, Knights was born to deaf parents, and the family moved to Saginaw when he was in the third or fourth grade. At a new school he had no friends, but somehow befriended very quickly and became best friends with Roz’s son Abe.

“Sam spent a lot of time at the Berlin house,”says Smith, “and saw Roz as his second mother. At some point Roz introduced him to my daughter, and…”

12/06/2025