North Dakota Senior Center Residents Write Poetry About Where They're From

Prairie Public News reports on residents at North Dakota's Burleigh County Senior Center participating in a poetry project called "Where I'm From," funded by the North Dakota Council on the Arts. For staff, the project is as much about storytelling as it is about the challenges of programming for seniors during a pandemic. "Social distancing measures that curb the spread of the coronavirus have made community building a challenge," explains reporter Alicia Underlee Nelson. More:

Site Manager Lisa Bennett felt that the poetry project (which could be conducted remotely) was a responsible and timely way to use the facility’s Art for Life Grant from North Dakota Council on the Arts – and to process the feelings stirred up by a global health crisis.

“I think every one of the people that did this will say that it gave them time to think about what’s important in life,” says Bennett, who also participated in the project herself. “Most of them grew up in the Depression, so they know what it’s like to give up things. It was a very good reminder at a perfect time.”

The subjects telephoned writers Matthew Musacchia and Maureen McDonald-Hins, who asked them a series of questions about their memories. After the discussion, the writers shaped their responses using the “Where I’m From” poetic template developed by George Ella Lyons. The finished poems were shared with the seniors (who were encouraged to send copies to friends and family) and published in the community newsletter. The poems will soon be compiled into a book for the elders as well. Some of the subjects admittedly needed a little convincing at first.

Read on at Prairie Public News.