Esther Chilton

If you’d like to be included in this slot, please get in touch: estherchilton@gmail.com. Poems can be up to 60 lines and prose 2000 words. If you’d like to add a short bio and photo, then great. All I ask is that there’s nothing offensive.

This week’s guest is appearing for the first time on my blog. I’m delighted to welcome Denise DeVries with a fascinating post. Over to you, Denise.

Aromawriting is a word I use to describe writing inspired by the sense of smell. I have a sensitive nose and can become overwhelmed by chemical scents and perfumes, but this can also be an asset. I like to think that my experiences in nature are richer and I’m less likely to consume spoiled food than the average person!

The term Proust Phenomenon is a literary way of describing how vivid memories or strong emotions can be triggered by smell or taste. These are our most developed senses at birth. The inside of the nose is the only place where nerve cells directly touch the outside world. Smells go straight to the brain’s smell center and connect to areas that control emotions and memories.

Because my sense of smell is so important to me, it’s a major theme in my writing, particularly in poetry. Although I try to bring in imagery from other senses, scent connects most directly with memory and emotion. Below is an example of one of my poems with a writing prompt.

Almond holidays

A buttery, flaky crust rises

in the oven, extruding almond

paste applied too generously,

or weak, inadequate dough

rolled too thin or wrapped

too tight, broken somehow

in an annual competition,

brother versus brother,

culinary arm-wrestling

to honor the memory of

their stern Dutch father.

The smoke of burning sugar

recalls our campfire treats,

and we children argue

over sweet scrapings

from the pastry pan

as our mothers wash

the dishes, dry their hands

and apply almond-

scented lotion

to make them soft again.

~~~

Writing prompt:

What smell reminds you of childhood holidays?

Can you think of a scent that evokes two contrasting memories?

~~~

Denise DeVries is a translator and writer from Colorado who has lived in Virginia since 1977 and in the Northern Neck since 2001. The rural town of Kilmarnock inspired her “Hull Crossing Chronicles” and “Key to History” historical fiction series and the one-act plays A Two-Faced Spinster and Barbershop Gossip. Denise, her husband Alvaro Ibañez, and their youngest daughter Delia Ibañez are developing a retreat center for the arts outside of Kilmarnock, Virginia.

For more Aromawriting by Denise, see https://denisedevriesauthor.wordpress.com/ or https://bilocalalia.wordpress.com/?s=Aromapoetry