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| Poet, Siegfried Sassoon's Open Letter in which he calls for an end to World War I in Public Domain (READ HERE) |
An open
letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide
audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless
widely distributed intentionally.
Open letters usually take the form of a letter addressed to an individual but
provided to the public through newspapers and other media, such as a letter to the editor or blog. Especially common are critical open letters addressed to
political leaders. Open letters can also be
addressed directly to a group rather than any individual.
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| Source |
There
are a number of reasons why an individual would choose the form of an open
letter, including the following reasons:
· As a last resort to ask the public to judge the letter's recipient or
others involved, often but not always, in a critical light
· To state the author's position on a particular issue
· As an attempt to start or end a wider dialogue around an issue
To continue reading this Wikipedia entry, click HERE. |
| Source |
There are many interesting and enlightening open letters available, and it was difficult for me to choose one but I thought, as writers, we would enjoy Harper Lee's open letter to Oprah Winfrey on the value of reading.
It is not the first time we have explored the possibilities of Epistolary poetry on Real Toads. Indeed, I set such a Wednesday Challenge back in 2011. Now I wonder if it is possible to translate the idea of an open letter into poetry and I leave this challenge with you today. Write a poem in the form of an open letter and disseminate it through means of the internet by posting it on your blog and linking it up to Real Toads.
One final note: As this is poetry, the premise of your letter or its recipient may be fictitious, if you so choose.
18 comments:
This prompt sounds like fun! Must ponder...
wow, I know where I'm taking this but it might take some time since I'm still sick in bed.
cool idea...
you've really pushed me to write this, I might even send it somewhere because it's something that really matters.
A very intriguing prompt, Kerry, but a difficult one for me. I'll brood over it and see if anything happens.
me too, am considering writing an open letter to the germs of the world. eh, maybe not. but still, love this challenge, Kerry!
I shared my letter and poem! Darn though I like my letter, better~
Fun challenge Kerry-thank you!
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I like like like this!
You don't make it easy for us, do you? :-)
I added a ghazal with inner rhyme added and typographically altered to show how really easy they are to write.
This actually made me tear up as I am not certain we can make our trip to our beloved small town this year.
cue Willie Nelson before you read mine.
My poem may be more appropriate for match.com. :-)
Hi Kerry-- so love the Harper lee. My life is still in a bit of turmoil due to moving and work and inadvertent loss is wifi (when not at work) so ended up with something a bit rough. But fun prompt. K.
Well, LTTP once again, plus mine is pretty much the same letter I'm always writing, so I hope it qualifies in some sense of the challenge, though perhaps not as well as it could. Thanks for the inspiration Kerry-this would never have been written without it.
Back after chores to read.
I don't know if mine can be called a letter or a poem but it felt good to say it.
Thank you, Kerry. :)
Ah...the helped to get out some of my frustration from the past few days...thanks!
I'm sooo slow!
Karen, I apologize for not reading your poem. This link does not take me to your page for some reason.
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