Ruth Ticktin
A Collection of Writing
Books
excerpt:
"Today, on the constantly moving waterside, I’m confronted and
surrounded by conscious belonging. Clear, sunny and cloudy pieces appear…
Disparate strands of genes commingle. Notes of music twirl at will… Shapes
form witnessing the crashing waves. Mantra song of lake bay river stream
ocean… Stays moves rolls rushes rises."
Ruth Ticktin writes in Was Am Going—Recollections in Poetry and Flash
Available: Bookshop Barnes&Noble
Amazon Book Depository Published by New Bay Books
​
Reviews: Toasted Cheese Literary Journal
"Her journey through life and across the US starts in the Midwest, and it is broken into three parts. The first
part takes her from growing up in Madison, Wisconsin to a post-college solo trip to the west coast and Mexico.
It starts with her as a little girl by “the water’s edge,” which is the title of her first poem. It then goes on with
a few more flash fiction pieces describing her growing up. The fiction pieces are written in a pattern of one
short line after another, mimicking the look of poetry though the words definitely have the feel of prose. Part
Three takes the title of the first poem in the book, “The Water’s Edge.” The book ends on a very optimistic note
which summarizes the tone of the book, optimistic and uplifting." Bill Lockwood 9/1/22
​
Reviews: goodreads.com
"In Ruth Ticktin's recollection 'Was Am Going' we are treated to nuggets of her life's experiences, expressed in poetry and flash and peppered with a sense of abandon and humor that makes the reader wish the author would go on and on and on." Tovi Glaser
​
What's Ahead? Transitioning from Adult Education to a Career
Coauthor
Art in the Time of COVID-19 (Contributor)
Contributor
Psalms for Contemplation, Translations by Max Ticktin
Edited by Deborah McCants and Ruth Ticktin
About the Collection - video intro
​
​
​
Bending Genres Anthology 2018/2019 (Contributor)
Press Pause Volume 6.
May 2022 (Contributor)
Stretching in my cell bed I shake
the calls in the halls so damn loud
Not morning yet, what's going on
Ever Light
Oh Sun Our Sun
Ever Eternal Rise-and Set
Online Publications
“
The palpable fear surrounding him helped bury his sadness. Trieste people on the street, at work, and in the rooming house spoke among themselves.
“What will happen next?” “We are certain to be under the fascist leadership of Italy.” “We must leave.” Semso, alone, was devoid of fear.
Out of nowhere, he had received a strange offer to start anew and he trusted that he could accept.
(excerpt from novel)
Great War and After
Scarlet Leaf Review
“
Except when the winter raged, Walt got up early each morning. Before going to work, he’d walk a mile on the path till he hit the cliffs and the way became rocky. Then turning around, he’d watch the sun, sky, water, ducks, and gulls. People passed him, some runners, some guys his age with headphones in their ears, and the occasional photographer. Most politely said hello, but Walt wasn’t interested or curious. As winter set in there were fewer people strolling on the path. He needed the tranquility to last. If he’d been a praying man, his walking songs would be his prayer. (excerpt from novel)
Get Up and Sing Now
WWPH Writes #4
“
Dara would practice putting
her head underwater like the ducks
did; with her head on the surface of the water, pretending to eat, then out to breathe, and another smooth in-out, down and up. …
“Tadorna, that’s the science family name of the orange ducks you see here. Your Pa told me this, … he made up a song we used to sing to you, “Ya Dara, Fly Tadorna.”
(excerpt from novel)
Ya Dara, Fly Tadorna
Academy of the Heart & Mind
"
The morning of the fall, was preceded by
peaceful walks… of striking beauty.
Even on those rare occasions when she didn’t
get outdoors to view the rising of the sun,
her days were more serene and calm than
they had been in decades.
Acquiring and moving to the little house
in Conoy, close to the Chesapeake Bay and
footsteps from her path, had been the best
decision she’d made." (excerpt from novel)
​
Fall on the Path: Literary Yard 10/20
​
​
"
“When I was eighteen, my husband and I made it to the big river on the back of a farm truck. The truck was stopped and searched. We were discovered with no papers. We waited outside in the rain while the authorities discussed our case. Instead of putting us in jail they took all of our money and left us in the rain. A truck took us to a house in the town. There we were given a room out back. I cleaned inside the house and my husband worked out in the man’s metal factory. I would get water from the well and wash all day long. My hands got bloody and my husband cried looking at my hands.”
from Arriving
"
Walt understood that he was one of few to have
survived mostly intact. He proceeded to write bad
poetry, recited or sang off-key while washing dishes
Looking at the sky, at the cloudy day, I keep
wondering will sky ever appear?
Cumulus puffy clouds, or stratus straight and gray
will sky ever not be,
bombs strangling gas fires, sulphuric explosions?"
(excerpt from novel)
Battles Soothed Briefly PressPausePress .6
​
​
​
" "
'...
Spring lightens up the stiff sprays Together, the family mourned—seven days, thirty days, a year,
Beige grasses bend airily in the wind forever. The community tried to help. There was little to say
Surviving the rains, prairie bunches grow and nothing to do. Teddy was impossibly young.
grass hairs change to a gray He was engraved in the hearts of his family.
thatches long lean and green To the community, he was a precursor to all of the youth in the US,
in South and North Vietnam, in Cambodia and in Laos
Summertime, the switchgrasses and I who would lose their lives. In the ensuing decade and beyond,
fall in love with there was war and more war. Consequences of war— sun rays penetrating their glands head and health heartaches, multiplied by casualties of war—
the sun permeating my pores untold in numbers.
​
Summer’s end switchgrasses’ green becomes blue From War Consequence (excerpt from novel)
the garden’s grand metallic grasses now rule”... * Featured Author included Returned and A Visit.
From Switchgrass Check out flash fiction by amazing author Ruth Ticktin.
Gathering a Poetry Anthology Straylight Magazine
"This short piece touches on the traumas of war, and feels truly impactful for such few words."(Straylight Facebook post11.6)
Dec 2, 2023 Fun with Words somdnews.com/arts
Last month Maryland Writers Association asked members to share
a poem like those of Roland Flint. Selected responses here show
common feelings and surprising strengths of characters most would call losers.
Mist Done Miss Go
A cloud, Dark tangible mist
wettened like dew kissed, Not loud
Be delicate, Hand your loving to the one,
nourish sustain never done Every last bit
​
“Take with you this memory,” Georg said, “You will travel
from Trieste, a territory of gloom to America, a place of
bloom; to a land untouched by all these warring empires.”
Words Semso would remembered for years.
Roaming the tracks of his heart, he wondered,
“Why was gloom to bloom, sjeta do cveteti, never actually
true?” Instead, fate dictated a return lap on the track for
Semso, from bloom to gloom."
​
In the Same Boat: Zvona i Nari
​
List of Curated Work
​
​
Was Am Going, Recollections in Poetry and Flash (Jan. 2022, New Bay Books, purchase Bookshop) reviews in goodreads
The 94-page $12.00 book includes 20 story excerpts and poetry first printed: Or purchase: Barnes. Amazon
A-Z Notes (Journal of Undiscovered Poets Issue #3 Jan. 2022) Brooklyn Generations (Kind Writers Issue #2 Dec. 2, 2022
From Those Who Came Before Us (Potato Soup Journal 10-10-20 Friend Scene (Ink and Sword Issue 18) My 1st Apartment
(Yellow Mama#81 Wrong (Yellow Mama issue 79) A conversation about before (Art in the Time of Covid-19, San Fedele Press) (8-20) A Perspective (Please See Me) (7-20) To Us (Table Debate 7-17-20) 4 Poems (DASH Literary Journal: Daybreak Footsteps Stories Balance) (5-20)
to Washington DC (Thin Air Magazine) (9-19) While Walking (Genre Urban Arts. Print-No-7) (4-19) Donde Crece la Palma (Bending Genres Anthology 2018-2019)
Brief Brave Journeys (Niveous Magazine)(9-18)When in High School (RCC Muse Literary Journal Spring 2018) Taking In (English Club12-17) It’s All Right (Writing for Our Lives 1997) Appreciation (Metropolitan Times 7/22/1997)
​
What's Ahead? Transitioning from Adult Education to Career (co-author, ProLingua Learning. 2013)
​
Psalms for Contemplation Translations by Max Ticktin (co-editor, Poetica Publishing 2020)
​
***Fiction***
War Consequence. Returned. A Visit. Featured Author: Straylight Magazine (Oct. 2023)
Arriving (Immigration Diaries July 2023)
In the Same Boat (Departure) ZvonaiNari, ZiN Daily 2/2023
Battles Soothed Briefly (Press Pause Press volume 6 March 2022)
Great War and After (Scarlet Leaf Review August 2021)
Get Up and Sing Now (Washington Writers, WWPH Writes #4 June 2021)
Ya Dara, Fly Tadorna (Academy of the Heart and Mind 11-17-20
A Fall on the Path (Literary Yard 10-7-20)
​
***Poetry***
​
Last Night I Saw Joe Hill Literary Heist 3/20/24
Follow the Flow, Ever Light, My Friend The Wild Word 2/14/24
Mist Done Miss Go Southern Md. News. Fun w/ Words Md. Writers Assoc. Dec. 2, 2023
Switchgrass (Gathering by Poets Anonymous 8/2023)
Upwards Look (Maryland Bards Poetry Review 3/2023) Pine Top (Md. Bards Review 2024)
Sitting (Writing in a Woman's Voice Jan.2023)
Puzzles (Star 82 Review 10.1 Mar.15,2022)
College Course (Storyhouse)(Aug.2019)
A Child of … (Currents 1999)
Mixing It Up (Storyteller 1997)
Short Fiction 3 (Inner Visions 1997)
Burned (SLUG fest, Ltd. 1996)
​
Articles:
Integrated Skills (WATESOL 9/2016)
Juror’s Verdict (Washington Post 9/6/2001)
​
Interview excerpt with Ruth Ticktin from www.newbaybooks.com/blog Contributor to an Art & Poetry Mashup
Q: Recollections in Poetry and Flash is written in two different forms. How and why? Poetry Reading on September 10, 2023 at 2pm- 4pm
A: We all have short attention spans, so I wanted to tell stories in bits and pieces,
like our disjointed lives. Sometimes a poem conveyed the mood and conversation or
details wasn’t necessary. Other times, I wanted the challenge of cutting down a
traditional story arc to under 1,000 words, a flash, in order to find an essence.
Leonardtown Book Fair: May 18th, 2024
10am-5pm sponsored by Fenwick Street Books
Selling books by Ruth Ticktin and photos by Valerie Watson
​
Nominated Fiction in WWPH Writes
Washington Writers Publishing House 2021.
Member MWA 2022-present
About the Writer
photo by Margarita Corporan
Ruth Ticktin has coordinated international programs, advised students, and taught English language skills and writing in MD and Washington DC since 1977. Curriculum Vitae
​
Raised in Madison and Chicago, graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Ruth encourages sharing stories. She teaches and learns, inspired by students and family.
Presenter at National College Transition Network, 2018 and Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages Conference, 2016​
ESL Instructor volunteer 2019, 2023 at Ayuda
​
Creative writing includes cross-genre: textbook, creative non-fiction, poetry, and fiction. Recipient of 2020 workshop grant from Poets and Writers.
Honorary co-president 2022 kelmaninstitute.org
​
​
​
CONTACT
Ruth Ticktin
Tel: 202-360-6793 | rticktindc@gmail.com
​
Author Pages: Good Reads Amazon Bookshop