Inspired by Literary Grannies: Z is for Zoe Akins

 

Zoe Akins, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright who was also a revered poet and screen writer. She influenced many and is remembered by few

I first came to know Zoe Akins simply because her name started with the letter “Z”. Even today, years later after I first read of her I am barely scratching the surface of a woman who is a remarkable literary granny.

She is one of those women whose work has been woefully underappreciated.

 Listen to these credentials:

 She wrote forty plays, 17 of which were produced on Broadway. One won her a Pulitzer Prize. Astonishing to me is none of her plays have been revived on Broadway.

 She was a Pulitzer Prize winner for her play. The Old Maid, and adaptation of the novel by fellow Literary Granny Edith Wharton. It went on to become a movie starring Bette Davis. In watching the preview for the movie, one might be distracted by the vintage quality of performance, props and costumes, but the words Zoe wrote are timeless.

 

 Katharine Hepburn’s first Academy Award was won in a film written by Zoe Akins, Morning Glory in 1933.

 I would like to offer you inspiration today from one of her most famous poems,

I Am the Wind

I am the wind that wavers,
You are the certain land;
I am the shadow that passes
Over the sand.

I am the leaf that quivers,
You, the unshaken tree;
You are the stars that are steadfast,
I am the sea.

You are the light eternal-
Like a torch I shall die.
You are the surge of deep music,
I but a cry!

Questions for Contemplation:

 Would you consider yourself to be more like the wind or the certain land? What makes you make that assertion?

 Read the poem aloud and then make a list of examples from your life that fit the various lines. For example, when has your life been like a torch? When has it been like a light eternal? Jot your discoveries on a sheet of paper.

 Sentence starters:

 

I am the sea, the wind, the shadow - and I….

 You are…..

 Prompts for the end of the day and integration throughout the week:

 

Today I was the wind when I….

Today I was a surge of deep music when I….

Today I was steadfast when…

The quality I would most like to be in this poem is…..

 Tomorrow I would like to exemplify the quality of….

 

= = = =

 

This blog post is a part of April's Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Visit here daily in April to be inspired by literary grannies across time.

 

 

 

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 Julie Jordan Scott inspires people to experience artistic rebirth via her programs, playshops, books, performances and simply being herself out in the world.  She is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy-extraordinaire and

 

Julie Jordan Scott is at the Microphone writing a collaborative poem during a poetry performance

 

mixed-media artist  whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people's creative lives. Watch for the announcement of new programs coming in Spring, 2015 and beyond. 

 

 

 

 To contact Julie to schedule a Writing or Creative Life Coaching Session, call or text her at 661.444.2735.

 

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