Congratulations to our featured client, Marilyn Ringer!
When Marilyn Ringer first submitted to our Review Board in 2006, we were overwhelmed by the beauty of her poems. She has a quietly powerful way of expressing her observations and evokes the serenity of the locations in which she often writes. We’ve always been impressed with her seemingly effortless way of balancing trim lines with rich language to produce eloquent, moving, and perfectly concise poetry. And judging from her exceptional acceptance rate and long list of publication credits, there are many editors who feel the same way! Watch her video to learn about Marilyn’s process and what inspires her.
About Marilyn Ringer:
Poet by nature, Oklahoman by birth, Californian by choice, Marilyn Ringer published her first poem at the age of 13. She has recently published her first book, Island Aubade, a collection of 37 poems about her experiences on Monhegan Island, 10 miles off the rocky coast of Maine.
Ms. Ringer has a BA in Social Sciences and an MA in Experimental Psychology from Southern Methodist University. She has published more than 50 of her poems in various journals and on multiple sites, including ThePedestalMagazine.com, Monhegan.com, and Eclectica.
Learn more about Marilyn Ringer, her book, and other works on her blog, http://hermusedotme.wordpress.com. Her book is available on Amazon.com, and at The Black Duck Emporium and Lyon Books.
How Marilyn Ringer stays inspired:
After years of giving my energy to others’ creative projects, I reclaimed it for myself. Inspired by William Stafford, I practiced writing a poem a day. I kept a notebook at hand for thoughts, dreams, poems, and prompts. I heard Allen Ginsberg speak and started to “notice what I noticed.” I heard Lucille Clifton talk about negative capability and felt she’d named me as a poet. I attended the Squaw Valley Writers Conference and had the great pleasure of writing with my “tribe.”
I was sending out my work, but I found the whole submission process overwhelming and discouraging. Writer’s Relief gave me structure and support in every aspect, from putting together a great cover letter, proofing my poems, organizing mailings and electronic submissions to following the history of each poem. Thanks to Writer’s Relief, my poetry has been introduced to a wider audience. In the six years that I have been associated with Ronnie and her fabulous staff, I have had over 50 acceptances. Their organizational support has streamlined the process of preparing, submitting, and tracking my poems. They find appropriate markets, and document the history of my submissions as well as proofing and creating clean copies of my work. What was a stressful process became inspiring.
Submitting new work every two months gave me the incentive to keep writing and polishing on a regular basis. Being able to resubmit work that wasn’t immediately picked up gave me the space to keep polishing new work that was not quite ready for that cycle, and if I need help or have a question, they are only a phone call or email away.
It’s really nice to read and watch the responses your clients give you; you guys should feel proud of yourselves for helping us starving writers.
Also, I LOVE Marilyn Ringer’s video…it’s one of my favorites!
Clearly she really really loves nature, haha! Congratulations on the poetry book, Marilyn!