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Library groups bind love of writing and reading
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Libraries host readers and writers
John Quinn studied literature at Notre Dame and went on to become a technician, a manager, a consultant, and an instructor for IBM. He left IBM in 1992 and worked another 10 years as a consultant, while fostering his creativity and love of reading into a writing hobby.
As of today, he is treasurer and past president of the Illinois State Poetry Society and a member of the Chicago Poets and Patrons. He is a member of three library writing groups out of Brookfield, La Grange, and Downers Grove. He belongs to two book discussion groups, one sponsored by the Brookfield Library and the other a group of writers from Brookfield and Downers who meet once a month at Barnes & Noble in Oakbrook.
Quinn’s group involvements began with a creative writing class he took at Triton College in River Grove. “I was workiing as a consultant and was looking to strengthen the skill. I was always interested in poetry and short fiction. A number of my classmates and the teacher decided to stay together and I have been writing ever since.” For awhile the group met in Berwyn, and then Quinn took a creative writing workshop at the Downers Grove library. Again the group wanted to stay together. At the suggestion of the Friends of the Library group leader, another library writing group was formed. That was around1987. "Over the years hundreds of people have attended, but the active members seldom get above 25. The meetings are two hours long and are normally attended by 12 - 18 people. The members with the most tenure have 25+ years as part of the organization. Our oldest member will be 92 in June and our youngest is about 20. Whoever shows up is the leader. They get the assignments collected and distribute what needs to be distributed.”
Later, he volunteered to pattern the Brookfield Library Writers group after the Downers Grove group, at the request of that library director. "I don't really run the group, it runs itself, whether I am there or not. I take a leadership role at times because someone has to and if no one does then it becomes a casual conversation, not a focused group."
Being involved in more than one writing group means having more deadlines and opportunities to get the work done and critiqued. “I don’t turn in on each one,” explained Quinn. “I’ll have a preliminary piece that I give … then (for the next group) it’ll be shorter … revised. It’s different audiences for the same basic material.”
Quinn gets his inspiration from reading. “After I read a good poem I want to write another one. I don’t sit out on sunny days and wait for something to hit me. I get inspired from whatever I am reading that day.” He reads non-fiction; news mostly; then fiction, and then poetry. He likes “down-to-earth kinds of things” like the works Billy Collins Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001-2003. “…one of the things about poetry is that it is really a shared experience that the audience can relate to; and that is not necessarily true in fiction. If you look at a poem and say, ‘I don’t get it,’ there are other people who will get it,” noted Quinn.
Quinn’s poetry has some of these same attributes, and can be humorous and reverent, whimsical and insightful, and contain imageries; why we play the same tunes over and over in our heads, and whispers of lost loved ones. You’ll find Quinn’s and other poets’ works on the Illinois State Poetry Society website.
Quinn claims a confidence which he says stems from a short attention span that helps him to go with whatever hits him. “The more you practice, the better you get. They didn’t make Michael Jordan in one day. With writing, you look at the final product and they make it look easy, but it is years of practice. It is something I love to do.”
More wisdoms from Quinn:
• I do not submit anything for publication. I don't want to be in the business of writing. I have won some prizes in local poetry contests, but I don't want to write for a living.
• I think that I have become more precise over the years and I pay more attention to verbs and I am always looking for a simile, but I am not sure of the "HOW." It has been an evolutionary process rather than an epiphany.
• I read two or three novels a month and subscribe to three weekly news magazines.
• My recommendation to anyone who wants to publish is to read and write and rewrite. Target where you want to publish, read the publication and submit according to the publisher's guidelines. If you are rejected write a thank you to the editor and resubmit something else for the next issue.
Brookfield Library has public readings twice a year. Downers Grove Library has a reading once a year. The Illinois State Poetry Society will sponsor a reading at the Brewed Awakening Cafe in Westmont on Nov. 29. Both the Illinois State Poetry Society and Poets and Patrons of Chicago host contests for writers.
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