Last week we let Nick Graves and Gianna Russo share both their poetry and their writing process with you. This week we have two more poets to share: Victoria Dym and Joyce Carpenter. We’d tell you more here, but we’d just be cribbing from their own self introductions.
Let’s just get right to it. Click on their photographs to start the conversation.
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Victoria Dym is a graduate of Ringling Brother’s Barnum and Bailey Clown College with a degree in Humility. She has also earned a Bachelor of Arts, in Philosophy, from the University of Pittsburgh, and her 
Masters in Fine Arts in Creative Writing-Poetry from Carlow University. Her chapbook, Class Clown, was chosen as one of ten finalists in the Coal Hill Review Chapbook Contest by Autumn Hill Press and ultimately published by Finishing Line Press in 2015. Victoria lives in Tampa Florida with her cat, Mook. Victoria teaches writing, storytelling and laughter yoga courses for OLLI-USF. Her second chapbook, When the Walls Cave In, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2018.
Joyce Carpenter studied drama at college in England and has degrees in special education and social work. She joined OLLI-USF in 2010, has taken OLLI courses in literature poetry, history, improv, and reader’s theater and has co-taught drama courses for OLLI. She is a member of the Great Books and the poetry groups. The camel adventure she refers to in one of her poems can be found here.
What a treasure you are, dear Joyce. Your poetry, readings and friendship always add beauty, humor and upgrade to my life. I agree with your tribute to Cath Mason. What jewels you are. Thank you Cheers
Thank you Judy. I so appreciate your constant and loving support.
Victoria…a clear, crisp reading with fully crafted stanzas, precise language,
mixed with feeling, passion, humor. I am proud to know you. Congratulations!
xoxo M.A.
Thank you for your readings dear fellow Poets! I feel so grateful to be a part of our literary community.
Warm spring wishes,
Pindie
Dear Pindie: thanks for your support and for your always thoughtful presence in OLLI ventures.
Rah, rah! to Joyce Carpenter! What delicious poems, Joyce, and what an awesome tribute to both Brenda and Cath. You make me want to try writing poetry again.
Dear Cindy; thanks for your encouragement and support- it’s what OLLI is all about !
Wow–I love the setting, the intimacy, your descriptions of why you write–a whole lot of nurturing is going on. And such vivid and beautifully-rendered poems, Very special.
Thanks so much Bob. Coming from a man who is a poetry guru your remarks mean a lot to me.
Masterful writing, insightful and lyrical. Thanks to you both for writing and reading these perceptive and well-crafted poems.
Thanks so much Margaret . It’s a scary thing for me to open up and share my work so your remarks make me glad that I took the risk.
Beautifully intimate, touching, and funny poems, Joyce. You have a wonderful talent for bringing us vividly into your life — the garden with your dad, jam and Iceland with Bill, and rebelling on a motorbike as a kid. Thank you for taking the risk to share with us.