Books

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Typewriter Poetry, Sean Petrie, and an Awesome Librarian

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In the post 27 Ways I Use a Typewriter, I list ‘type a poem in public’ as one routine use of these machines I enjoy.

I was inspired to leap into the world of public typewriter poetry by Sean Petrie of Typewriter Rodeo. This Austin, TX-based group of friends routinely sit together at their various manual typewriters and tap out custom poems at events and public spaces around the country.

How does it work? The recipient suggests the topic. Sean & Co. sometimes ask a few questions, sometimes dive right in. Within minutes, a poem has poured from the keys of their lickety-split typewriters, is signed, receives a stamp of the group’s logo—a lassoed typewriter—and is slipped into a plastic sleeve and handed to the recipient.

The logo is appropriate. These wordsmiths rope in long-legged thoughts and soon have them neatly captured on the page. The process is imperfect though, given the speed of the composing, with errors and changes of direction simply x-ed out. They make no second draft or tidied copy.

It is a quirky art form that often elicits emotion in the recipient, from smiles of gratitude to tears of recognition, even renewed hope.

You can watch Typewriter Rodeo in action and learn more in this thoughtful piece from the Texas Country Reporter.

The Printing Museum and the Qwerty Festival

I got to meet Sean at the first Qwerty Festival held at the Museum of Printing in Haverhill, Massachusetts, a few summers ago.

A Remington Portable #2 was ready for me from Tom Furrier of Cambridge Typewriter, who was going to exhibit at the event. When I called Tom to coordinate picking it up at the Festival, he had just heard that Sean Petrie would attend and be typing poems.

That sealed the deal. I was going!

I immediately messaged local youth librarian, Jean Holmblad, and she was happily roped into coming too.

Jean had also caught the vision from Sean of using typewriters for public poems. She had amassed a collection of machines for teen events at her library and Teen Typewriter Poetry was a monthly event, pre-COVID. Teens and typewriters and a ‘Free Poems’ sign sat at tables in the library lobby, and just like Typewriter Rodeo, offered to write for library patrons.

My youngest daughter and I were monthly regular writers.

As Sean explains in the video above, the lack of time to compose defines the nature of the poems. They are simple, heartfelt, but not long pondered over. It is surprising what pours from your fingers as you dive into the requested topic. My kids have competed in competitive speech and debate and this is akin to an impromptu speech event.

At the Printing Museum, Jean and her husband, my daughter, and I formed a posse of attendees, standing in line at the Typewriter Rodeo poetry table. We wondered what to request as we marveled at Sean speeding away on his preferred typewriter, also a Remington Portable #2, just like the machine I was there to buy.

My poem request for Sean?

“Can you write a poem about your typewriter? I’m picking up a Remington #2 today from Tom.”

Sean’s face lit up. “No one’s ever asked me that before. I’ve never written a poem about my typewriter!”

{click to enlarge}

A picture of listening! My daughter requests a poem. Sean Petrie at the Qwerty Festival, Museum of Printing, Haverill, MA

REMINGTON PORTABLE: A Poem From Sean

‘Digging in the Dirt of this Poetry Loam’

Now Coronavirus has struck and such public displays of generosity are not so welcome. The Qwerty Festival is on hold, the Museum of Printing was closed all summer, and Teen Typewriter Poetry is unable to gather in the lobby of the Boston-area library.

However, not to be defeated the teens now meet with librarians Jean and James over Zoom, not monthly but weekly! Whether there’s a typewriter at home or not, they happily write poems and share them together.

Sean Petrie has even joined the meeting, virtually from Texas, and wrote them a poem to encourage these teens in their poetry endeavors.

Typewriter Poetry for the Win

When the library can safely open we will be back, writing poems in public.

Our poems have made people laugh and moved others to tears. It has been a delightful and satisfying journey on the backroads of writing with Sean Petrie, a Remington #2, and Jean the wonderful librarian, along with an eager bunch of writerly teens.

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