“For the shy poets, taking a risk in six words to share a secret, a memory, or a fear is easier than delving into a longer poem.”

Spring always seems to reinvigorate creativity and inspire new ideas. The days are getting longer, the sun is shining brighter and the Six-Word Memoirs are less “Wishing for other reasons to shiver” and more “Mudluscious and puddle-wonderful Spring. -e.e. cummings.”

Which brings us to this month’s featured classroom! Meet Meghan Adler, learning specialist, seasoned writer and poetry teacher at San Francisco Day School in San Francisco, California. Adler is a longtime fan of Six-Word Memoirs who recently attended SMITH founder Larry Smith’s workshop to benefit 826Valencia. She says that her school boasts a community of learners in which perpetual intellectual curiosity and love of learning are highly celebrated. Adler exemplifies the school’s overall mission by exuding an optimistic energy, love of writing and a Six-Word Memoir teaching force to be reckoned with.

This conductor of masterfully brief creativity works with five bright students enrolled in a Performing Arts Elective. Adler and her students recently embarked on a journey into literary world of Six-Word Memoirs, divulging everything from Six-Word secrets to short, sweet odes to San Francisco.

“Twice a week for 50 minutes, I meet with 6th and 7th grade poets in a class called Poems, Poetics and Poetry,” says Adler. “We study forms, poets, and write our own poetry. My students especially love the six-word format because they love structure. Somehow the rules create and allow a structured freedom of sorts. For the shy poets, taking a risk in six words to share a secret, a memory or a fear is easier than delving into a longer poem. Of course later, they may be inspired to keep going, but the six-word prompt helps them enter. I am so grateful for this form that’s helped my poets take risks, share, create, and take real pride in their work.”

These San Francisco students were generous enough to share their sixes with the SMITH community. “One of my students started to have so much fun with the exercise that he came up with one for me as he watched me try to untangle some jewelry: ‘Middle-aged woman strangled by necklace.’”

Get ready to laugh, lament, be inspired and laugh some more as Adler’s students take you on a delightfully youthful, slightly self-conscious and wonderfully witty literary ride.

Six Words On Life
Ollie (6th Grader)
Am I too old for that?

Jamie (6th Grader)
Life never stops even when asked.
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In honor of the last week of our Six-Word Caption Contest with Shutterfly—and because your entries were so delicious is was hard to pick just one winner—we’re naming three winner’s of Six-Word Caption Contest #23, each of whom will receive a $50 gift certificate to use on the photo site.

“Fellows, we’ve secured an energy source.” — JT
“Trending #PinkBunnyCookies #RandPaul choice filibuster snack.” —Lorraine M.
“What is this, a Peep show?” —June

Check out all the entries here in the Contest #23 post, and take a spin through all our winners over on SMITH’s contest page.

In the past few months, this ever-creative community of writers has shared thousands of six-word captions. We thank you all, as well as our partner, Shutterfly, and congratulate our winners. Stay tuned for more contests here in our world of Six Words in the months ahead.

Politics and Spring weather colored your Six-Word Memoirs this week. We chose a few of our favorites to illustrate, with some pretty snazzy results. To see all five of this week’s illustrated memoirs, visit SMITH Magazine’s Tumblr.

Your spiritual path may or may not lead you to pass over this funny bunny, but the short-form scribe who captions this scene in a half-dozen well-chosen words in comments area below is in for a treat: a $50 gift certificate for Shutterfly. Each entry should be a separate comment and you can submit up to 10 entries by Friday, March 29, 8pm EST; read the official rules for more details.

The winner of last week’s contest, found in this blog post, is: “Baby steps, learning to love you,” by LivingLifeBackwards. Thanks to all who puckered up and played.

Whether your six words are sweet or cheeky, the short-form scribe who captions this scene in a half-dozen well-chosen words in comments area below will win a $50 gift certificate for Shutterfly. Each entry should be a separate comment and you can submit up to 10 entries by Friday, March 22, 8pm EST; read the official rules for more details.

The winner of last week’s contest, found in this blog post, is: “Run away before night catches us,” by Faexandrova. Thanks to all who played.

Set your mind to describing this scene above in exactly six words in the comments area below and you could win $50 on Shutterfly. Each entry should be a separate comment and you can submit up to 10 entries by Friday, March 15, 8pm EST; read the official rules for more details.

The winner of last week’s contest, found in this blog post, is: “I escaped the mountains for this?,” by DynamicDbytheC. Thanks to all for your beautiful sounds of six.

What’s Ms. Andrews doing up there? Describe this scene in exactly six words in the comments area below by 5pm EST on Friday, March 8 and you could win $50 on Shutterfly. Each entry should be a separate comment and you can submit up to 10 entries; read the official rules for more details.

The winning caption from last week’s contest, describing the photo from last week’s contest is “See! Your face did get stuck,” by Tony Mutz.

Who hasn’t had the occasional “aha!” moment? The short-form scribe who’s moved to describe this kid’s excellent look in exactly six words will win $50 on Shutterfly. Share your six-word caption by 5pm EST on Friday, March 1 in the comments area below to describe the photo you see here. Each entry should be a separate comment and you can submit up to 10 entries; read the official rules for more details.

Contest #18 winning caption describing the photo from last week’s contest is “Beneath the surface, the thorns arise,” by Amyra R.

This President’s Day we challenge you to take a pensive pause from the often-insane political process and put forth your best six words for the picture you see here. You, Sir, may be no Jack Kennedy, but if your six gets our vote you’ll win $50 on Shutterfly. Share your six-word caption by 5pm EST on Friday, Feb. 22 in the comments area below to describe the photo you see here. Each entry should be a separate comment and you can submit up to 10 entries; read the official rules for more details.

Contest #17 winning caption describing the photo from last week’s contest is “Heart’s been hung out to dry,” by Meowmag.

“Married by Elvis. Divorced by Friday.”
“Silently suffered his facial hair experiments.”
“Hired me. Fired me. Married me.”
“Someone should have objected at my wedding.”
“Much married; fourth time is charmed.”

On February 14, SMITH Magazine and the teen writing community Figment present “It’s Like My Heart Has Sciatica,” our annual Love and Heartbreak story show at NYC’s amazing 92YTribeca. Each storyteller starts with a Six-Word Memoir on the evening’s theme and then reveals the backstory in about six minutes. The evening ends with an audience “Six-Word Slam,” in which you’re invited to share a Six-Word Memoir on love, heartbreak or any part of your life.

Details:
February 14, 2013
Happy Hour: 6-7pm
Show: 7-8:30pm
92YTribeca, 200 Hudson St., NYC
advance tickets (recommended)—just $10 (more at the door)

Our storytellings include:

OPHIRA EISENBERG is the host of NPR’s new weekly trivia, puzzle, and game show, “Ask Me Another.” She’s performs stand-up across the country, is a regular host of The Moth, and the author of a forthcoming memoir, Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy, coming out in April from Seal Press.

A.J. JACOBS is the editor-at-large at Esquire and author of four New York Times bestsellers including, The Know-It-All, The Year of Living Biblically, My Life as an Experiment: One Man’s Humble Quest to Improve Himself, and most recently, Drop Dead Healthy: One Man’s Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection.
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