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| Once
upon a time, storytelling in
rhyme was a time-honored tradition; indeed,
many of our best-known tales―The
Trojan War and Beowulf,
for example―were originally written as
epic poetry. During the Middle Ages,
troubadours, minstrels, and bards wandered
the countryside regaling all who would
listen with poems of fantasy, adventure, and
love. This tradition spread to
America, where The Fireside Poets,
a group of 19th-century poets rivaled their
English counterparts in popularity both at
home and abroad, many of whose works are
still popular today. It was probably
modern-day minstrels like Mother Goose
and Dr. Seuss who first
sparked our imaginations by introducing us
to the magic of reading. Past,
present, or future, the influence of
narrative poetry on mankind is too important
to ignore.
"Poetry
is nearer to vital truth than history."
~Plato
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Without
readers, a writer is only half complete.
This proves to be particularly painful for the
poet, who often finds the path to publication
blocked by the words, "No Poetry,
Please." Fortunately, the
popularity of eBooks offers a unique
opportunity for any writer to self-publish and
distribute their work free of the financial
and editorial constraints imposed by
traditional publishers.
"Writing
may be art, but publishing, when all is said
and done, comes down to dollars."
~Nicholas
Sparks |
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| Everybody
needs a vacation. My blog chronicles my
search for inspiration along the roads and
highways of my imagination. Hitchhikers
welcome!
"Imagination
is more
important than knowledge."
~Albert
Einstein
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| I,
Kenn Allan, From
This Day Forward... |
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 ...Shall
No Longer Allow others to
define the value of my work. In the
past, this has created self-doubt, even to
the point of my abandoning my first love in
favor of writing more "acceptable"
prose. Yet over the years I have seen my
poems used by God
to comfort, encourage, and edify in ways I
could never imagine. Therefore, I will
continue writing my verses with head held
high, never again doubting the importance of
producing work used by a King. |
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| ...Shall
Consider all future writings
gifts for my grandchildren.
Regrettably, I will not be at their side as
they face many of the challenges posed by
today's world; however, I can share glimpses
of myself through my writings. In the
words of Yevgeny Yentushenko, "A poet's
autobiography is his poetry; anything else
is just a footnote." |
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| ...Shall
Endeavor to remove the stigma
attached to the word "Poetry."
When questioned, many will complain it's
stuffy, pretentious or hard to understand...
yet I've been told countless times, "I never
read poems but I really enjoyed
this!" Therein lies the
problem: How do you sell a valid
product to those who have already decided to
reject it? |
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...Shall
No Longer Pursue
"traditional" publication due to
its stifling effect on creative and
spiritual gifts. True inspiration
should flow freely, not hindered or
conformed by the financial/editorial demands
of an unseen third party. Fortunately,
the popularity of E.Books offers an
alternative and it shall remain my only
avenue for publication (unless the Lord
makes other arrangements, of course).
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...Shall
Continue to Promote the e.Book
Revolution to the best of
my ability; it is indeed the future of
publishing. Likewise, I reject any
platform―no
matter how lucrative―which
attempts to restrict creativity for personal
gain. For this reason, I have chosen
Smashwords.com as my publisher and designed
my online bookstore to interface with their
publishing platform.
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...Shall
Do Whatever Possible to dispel
the spirit of hopelessness gripping today's
world. This is not altogether
altruistic; people lost in darkness
have little interest in exploring the truth
and beauty in Poetry―or God,
for that matter. It
is my desire to shine my light on both.
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| "First off I will say
that I do not normally like poetry...too
deep, too esoteric, too..something for me.
But I love a well-written story, stories
that ignite the imagination in the telling,
stories that play with language and invoke
admiration (why can't I write like that?).
This collection of story poems is all that I
love about writing (and reading) and
more." |
| ―Dan
Mann, Freelance Writer & Critic |
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| "If you're looking for
a poet who truly understands his craft, if
you're looking for poetry that is edgy, yet
warm and humorous, Kenn Allan is your man!
Reading each of his poems is an adventure
because his poetry is truly fresh and
unpredictable. His heart beats in rhythm
with much of the human race, we just didn't
know how to express our feelings until we
read it in his poetry. It's a roller coaster
ride; it's a walk by a quiet stream and so
much more. He is truly a groundbreaking,
contemporary poet." |
―Sandy
Brooks, Director
Christian Writers Fellowship
International |
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| "Kenn is one of the
most amazing poets I've ever encountered. He
has the uncanny ability to make people who
hate poetry love it. His ebooks are filled
with his incredible and award winning poetry
and I could not recommend his work more
highly." |
―Glenn
Hascall, Editor
Cross Times Magazine |
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| Updated:
February 10, 2013 |
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Copyright
© 2013 Kenn Allan |
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