Anjie Greene-Martin

photo by Jody Mack

CONTACT

Anjie Greene-Martin
Palmyra, Wisconsin

BIO

Originally from Michigan, Anjie Greene-Martin is a Wisconsin writer who enjoys sharing her love of writing with people of all ages and abilities. She is available for community writing workshops and writer-in-the-schools programs. All poetry workshops include hand-outs with example poems featuring contemporary Wisconsin poetry, writing tips, quotes, and exercises. Themes include, but are not limited to: Memoir Poetry, Poems of Place, Battling the Cliche, and Embracing Nature. She serves on faculty for All Writers' Workplace and Workshop in Waukesha allwriters.org

Past readings, workshops and presentations that Anjie has done include: Martha Merrell's Books in Waukesha, WI; Palmyra-Eagle Area School District ( grades 3-12); Waukesha Central Middle School; Waukesha Catholic Memorial High School; guest poet for Carroll College's Academy for Creative Writing; Kozmic Coffee; T-Rex Pizza; The Neighbors' Bistro, The Waukesha Rotary Building, The Neville Public Museum in Green Bay; Barnes and Noble in Madison; St. Francis High School in Wheaton, Illinois; Conkey's Bookstore in Appleton; All Writer's Workplace and Workshop; Spring City Poetry Festival; Waukesha Public Library; Peace in the Streets event in downtown Waukesha; Waukesha JanBoree; Fern-Young Terrace at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater; Wisconsin Public Radio's Higher Ground; High School Creative Writing Festival at UW-Whitewater; Palmyra United Methodist Church, Moms of Miracles Group at the Christian Disciple Farm in Sullivan, WI.

Anjie is an active member of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets and a recipient of an AWP Intro Journals Award for creative non-fiction and a Literary Achievement Award from Indiana NOW for poetry. She has been embracing various language teaching opportunities in educational settings for over twelve years, including Seoul, Korea as an ESL teacher in 1994. Currently, she teaches ESL to adults in a community program in Whitewater and for Gateway Technical College. Publications include poetry, non-fiction and memoir. Her work is featured in journals such as Puerto del Sol, Chrysanthemum, Bellowing Ark, and Mamazine. You can read some of her work at these sites: mamazine.com/Pages/poetry_poem61.html

wastelandpoets.com/poetry/anjie.html

BOOKINGS

2008

January
Featured reader at AllWriters' Workplace and Workshop Birthday Celebration January 19th in Waukesha. Party at 6:00, reading at 7:00. Refreshments will be served.

July
Teaching at the Young Writers Inspirational Journey Workshop at the elementary school July 14-18 from 9:00 AM-2:00 PM as part of the Carroll College Academy Program at AllWriters' Workplace and Workshop in downtown Waukesha, and at the middle school July 21-25 from 9:00 AM-2:00 PM.

POEM

POSTCARD FROM MY BACKYARD

It's not the neighbor's yard picketing
its rosy white fence on our long grass.
Here it's weedy and wild and this lawn throws up
random acts of mint and lavender.
We bust alive when the sun's undoin' the dew
and the vines go spiraling to my daughter's off-beat rhythm—
look, here they go, hula-hooping up a dead crab apple
I haven't the means, or heart, to bring down.
You might hear the dogs next door yipping their nervous tunes,
but I will admit, only to you, that my cats probably started it.
Back by the old carriage house, the sunflowers
just honeybeeing themselves as the naked little boy giggles
buckets of water everywhere. Careful! You could drown here!
Last week I reached across the border,
handed some of our red-hot radishes to those neighbors
who smiled through their teeth and said thanks. They didn't mean it,
but that's OK though, 'cause I did.
Oh, if you do make it out here, you'll find this backyard song
wrapped 'round me like an apron.
I'll greet you with a hug and flood you over
with some puckered-up lemonade. And when you leave,
I'll curse you a thirst so strong
you'll be burning to come back for a refill.
Won't you come visit us soon?

Originally published in Free Verse

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