Christmas in My Mind

by Belendiuk, Krystyna; Crisson, Olivia; Gilroy, M. E.; Mathews, Catherine

• ISBN13: 9781480071940
• ISBN10: 1480071943
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-12-18
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Pub

Summary

"Christmas in My Mind: a Collection of Prose and Poems by the Walsh Street Writers" contains seven short stories -- memoirs or memory-inspired fiction -- and four poems. It is a collection of works, inspired by the Christmas season, written by six members of The Walsh Street Writers, a group of writers creating in different styles -- memoir, fiction, poetry and plays. The members of the Walsh Street Writers, who gather monthly to review each other's work, met while taking workshops at "The Writer's Center," one of the few organizations of its kind in the United States dedicated to promoting and supporting writers. "Christmas in My Mind" contains the following works: "Holiday House Tour Hell" is a comedy of errors. A farce, based somewhat on a true experience, it is inspired by "I Love Lucy.""The Last Christmas Eve" is a bittersweet story of Greg, who has not told his wife or young teenage children that he is dying. As he tries to make this the best Christmas, he reminisces about the Christmases of his youth.In "A Christmas Season During World War II" the author recalls what Christmas was like during World War II, while he was a sixth-grader in a southern New Jersey farming community. The author, Carter, recounts frantic efforts, gone awry, in "Christmas," when her mother tries to create a postcard perfect celebration."Ninarella: A Christmas Tradition in Old Calabria" recounts the nine evenings before Christmas in a historic cathedral town overlooking Italy's Ionian Sea.Helenka goes home to visit her mother in Canada in "Christmas Dinner at the Legion." She arrives to learn that the Polish Legion will celebrate its annual "Christmas Dinner" in January, a celebration for which she is totally unprepared."A War-Time Christmas" describes life as it was in small New England towns during World War II.Three poems, "innocent child," "Christmas tree," and "Christmas in the Tropics" respond to Christmas in traditional Japanese styles; the fourth poem, "Star of Wonder," addresses the celestial compass of the Magi.The works are an expression of life's experiences and perspectives translated into writing.