Margo Ball never imagined the Norfolk Quill would reach its 8th year anniversary. She was hoping for 5 years, but the program--writing workshops coupled with an annual literary journal--have been hugely popular in the area. So popular, in fact, that Ball has had to put her own literary pursuits on the backburner until now. Recently, she decided to step aside and let a group of supporters take over the Quill.
“For eight years, I have been the Quill,” said Ball.
The Norfolk Quill was born of a love of writing. Ball had taken a writing workshop at the Bellingham Library, and enjoyed it so much that she thought she could start something similar in Norfolk. She decided, however, to add a literary journal to the project. Writers from the workshop as well as the general public could submit their pieces for consideration.
“I figured there are a lot of people like me out there, who love writing but that’s not what they do for a living, that’s not what they’ve been trained in,” she said. “I wanted to create a place where these people could come out and meet with one another, encourage one another, and have their work celebrated in some way.”
Ball decided from the beginning that the Quill would be a more egalitarian journal than the typical literary journals in which she herself had been published. There was a need, she felt, for a journal to which amateur writers could aspire.
“I wanted to have a journal where people didn’t have to show they’d already been published twenty times in elite journals to be considered,” explained Ball. She does not accept every submission sent to the Quill, however, acknowledging that she publishes only the very best of what she receives.
Children are also welcome to submit pieces for publication in the Quill. Ball has included pieces from children and teens of all ages. When Ball was in third grade, a poem she wrote was accepted for publication in the high school newspaper.
“That was very exciting for me, so I understand how exciting it can be for the children to publish,” she said.
Ball says the workshop participants have run the gamut from retired professors to a manual laborer who writes poetry in his spare time. All kinds of people, with all kinds of backgrounds, have a need to express themselves in writing, she believes. And literary talent can come from anyone.
“I think it’s wonderful when people’s work can have an opportunity to be legitimized…that what they write is really worth saying and worth sharing,” she adds.
Ball believes she taken the Norfolk Quill as far as she can on her own. For the past few years, her son Carter has helped her review the ever-increasing submissions but he will be leaving for college in the fall. She decided to ask a core group of participants in her workshops to take over the program. Ball will remain involved in a limited role, but will let the new team take the Quill in whatever direction they want.
“Over the last year or two I would think of ideas I could do with the program, ways I could reach out to the community or the schools, and I just couldn’t do it because I didn’t have the time or the particular skill set,” she explained. “I’m at the point where I can’t make it grow in the ways I would like to see it grow, so I felt it was time for me to step back and let others come together and do some of those really exciting things to take the Quill to the next step.”
The 2016 edition of the Norfolk Quill was unveiled at a reception held at the Norfolk Library on June 16. The reception, coupled with the Quill’s first-ever poetry slam, acknowledged and celebrated writers from Norfolk and surrounding area towns. Proceeds from journal sales are donated to the Norfolk Library, and copies are available at the circulation desk for $8.
For Ball, the transition to a more limited role in the Norfolk Quill is bittersweet, much like watching a child leave for college. “If you really want to let something grow, you can’t try to control too much what direction it takes or it won’t ever be everything it can be.”
She adds, “I believe everybody has a need to tell their story. I feel very honored that so many people have made themselves vulnerable enough to share their work with me. I think it’s kind of impressive that we got to eight years. I feel really good about that.”
For more information about the Norfolk Quill, email [email protected] or like them on Facebook.
Issue Date:
July, 2016
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