Happy National Poetry Month 2016!

Hey, everyone, it's...

You can grab that logo there, and find tons of cool ideas for celebrating poetry, on the Academy of American Poets website. Memorize a poem! Create your own anthology on Poets.org! Watch a poetry movie! Most of all (sez me), get involved in local poetry events in your community. I've been a member of our local, relatively new Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center and we are holding our third annual benefit gala this month on the 17th, along with our usual monthly poetry reading/open mic on the second Tuesday.

In honor of National Poetry Month, one of my favorite poems:

The Second Coming
by William Butler Yeats

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Bits, Bobs, and Blurbs

Since I recently received my very first real-life, official, honest-to-god blurb request, I've been thinking a lot about it. Working on it has been a bit of a revelation--it's a challenge, and a responsibility, and an honor, and lord help me it is HARD to do. So, naturally, I consulted the intertubes and found an interesting article on the topic by Chuck Wendig (with a number of amusing faux blurb examples, including the ever-useful "Better than Cats!"). Just as interesting were the comments, from writers and readers alike, exhibiting a range of opinions on blurbs and their usefulness, or lack thereof.

The upshot is, I'm trying to craft something that's enticing, that is specific to the story at hand rather than generic. I also keep reminding myself that I'm not writing a review...which is what I'm more used to doing...

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In the process of my neurotic googling over the past few days, I also ran across this article in the New York Times on self-doubt and its pernicious ability to cripple writerly creativity. We writers have a unique relationship to our inner critics--as the article's author points out, "the problem with my inner critic is that it’s inseparable from my outer critic, which is the means by which I earn a fair proportion of what for rhetorical purposes I will call 'my living.'" We are forever faced with the dilemma of having to compartmentalize our capacity for self-criticism, harness it for productive purposes when it's expedient and necessary, and ignoring it when we need to. I'm still struggling with that dilemma, myself, but it is reassuring, sort of, to remind myself it's all a part of the writer's process.

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National Poetry Month continues with the Poetically Speaking series over on Miss Print--today's post features fellow YA author Justina Chen interviewing poets Janet S. Wong and Sylvia Vardell about their poetry anthologies. Go forth and be poetic!

Poetry Month Roundup: Novels in Verse

Roz Chast's Poetry Month poster - request it here!

I like to do the occasional link roundup, and since it's National Poetry Month, I thought it would be fun to revisit our past reviews of novels in verse. It's not a genre we tend to focus on--I'll freely admit that I don't gravitate toward novels in verse, so most of the reviews that we've posted in that genre are Tanita's. Of course, plenty of readers do not only gravitate toward, but even prefer, novels in verse. YA authors such as Ellen Hopkins and Sonya Sones are veterans of the genre, of course, and greatly popular among young adult and grown adult readers alike. I'm not even able to address all of the wonderful authors of verse books for tween readers and younger, from Naomi Shihab Nye to the Kidlitosphere's own Kelly Fineman and Laura Salas.

In any case, I rounded up what we do have in terms of reviews of novels in verse or heavily featuring verse in the storytelling:

Hesse, Karen: Witness
Koertge, Ron: Coaltown Jesus and Shakespeare Bats Cleanup
Koyczan, Shane: To This Day
McCormick, Patricia: Sold
Sandell, Lisa: The Weight of the Sky
Venkatraman, Padma: A Time to Dance
Wein, Elizabeth: Rose Under Fire
Wolff, Virginia Euwer: Make Lemonade

This was a useful exercise for me because I really need to make more of an effort to read the occasional novel in verse. I know there are fantastic ones out there, and when I do read them I generally enjoy them, but for some reason I'm often reluctant to pick them up in the first place. I guess I usually prefer stand-alone poems. Ah, well, it is what it is...

More Poetry Month!

It's lovely having a personal connection to poetry - and a poet. We've all known (for a given value of communicated-on-the-internet-met-in-person-only-once knowing) poet Kelly Ramsdell Fineman for quite a few years now, and though she's a less vocal part of the kidlitosphere on days when she's wrestling down her rheumatoid arthritis, she's one of our core members who has been blogging for probably as long as -- or longer -- than A.F. and I. An original member of Guys Lit Wire and a core contributor to the great Poetry Friday movement that swept the blogosphere, as well as a contributor on the lovely new Poetry Friday Anthology, Kelly has been published in Highlights for Children magazine, and has poems in Summer Shorts, Breaking Waves, and Mountain Magic: Spellbinding Tales of Appalachia (2006), and in the book Write Your Own Poetry by another kidlitosphere buddy, Laura Purdie Salas (2008). Kelly's first poetic picture book AT THE BOARDWALK, illustrated by Mónica Armiño, was released by Tiger Tales Books in 2012, and today we celebrate a new chapbook, The Universe Comes Knocking, out from Maverick Duck Press.

I've blogged personally about a gift of buttons I received (and am gluing to all sorts of things), and I have an affection for sidewalks and windowsills and common things - what I love is that Kelly doesn't just blog about them, she creates poetry around them - or below them, perhaps? - and elevates them. Chairs. Peas. Not even her goofy cat knocking things over escapes her poetic gaze.

This collection contains twenty poems of varying lengths, on various topics - some of which are immediately sticky, like a catchy song, others of which worm their way into your heart on a second reading, taking the place of those first, impulsive rushes of pleasure. Good poetry simply has a way of doing that... Wonderland waves jazz hands and does dubstep (okay, maybe not) and otherwise fizzes about in an irresponsible manner in celebration of Kelly's poetry and her general awesomeness (and wishes her a belated happy April birthday!).

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I received my copy of this book courtesy of the universe. No, seriously. You, however, can find THE UNIVERSE COMES KNOCKING by Kelly Ramsdell Fineman at Maverick Duck Press!

Happy Poetry Month!

April is National Poetry Month, and this year marks the first I really, truly feel like I'm putting my best foot forward and getting involved in the whole Event Thing. I'll be writing up an article for my freelance gig at A Place for Mom on seniors, poetry, and how our local poetry center members are helping "spread the word" (pun intended). And I've written a guest post for a wonderful daily series of posts over at the blog Miss Print, where I'm in illustrious company such as Terra McVoy (who wrote today's post), Rachel Hartman (whose post goes up tomorrow), Kelly Jensen, Justina Chen, Sarah Beth Durst, Elizabeth Wein, Nova Ren Suma, and a host of other bloggers and writers.

The series is called Poetically Speaking, and my post is scheduled for next Tuesday, April 7th. I wrote about my experiences as a member of our poetry center, helping to get it started as an organization, and slowly getting more involved with poetry in the community--including giving a poetry workshop to some middle school girls last month. (If you want to find out what the CHUPACABRA has to do with poetry, you'll have to read my post and find out...)

For an introduction to the series, and the full schedule, go check out this roundup on Miss Print, and don't miss the daily update! Today, Terra McVoy talks about one of my longtime favorite poets, Emily Dickinson:

"...for me, Emily’s life was a testament to the truth: that it’s the work that matters, and nothing else. Being a serious writer who is taken seriously means dedicating your life to shaping your writing into its highest, purest, most powerfully beautiful form, and all else is distraction."

More here.

Getting Poetry and Books into Schools

Those of us who blog in the kidlitosphere can accomplish a lot when we pull together. Need proof? Just check out the status of Greg Pincus's Kickstarter project, Poetry: Spread the Word--there are still 5 days to go on the project, and not only is it fully funded, it's OVERFUNDED. As of the writing of this post, he's got $5,870 in pledges, $870 more than his stated goal of $5,000. All the extra funds go towards additional school visits at no cost to schools, helping Greg bring poetry into classrooms and write original work to be made freely available, all over the course of the next year. In this time of dwindling funds for arts education, that's something to celebrate.

If you want to help, there's still time to contribute--or, if you fancy buying a book instead (or in addition!), why not contribute to this year's Guys Lit Wire Book Fair? It's only been going for a few days, but 150 books have already been bought and sent to Ballou Sr. High School in Washington, D.C.--including Tanita's A La Carte and my own The Latte Rebellion, which makes us jump up and down just a little. :) As usual, I'm waiting a bit to make my purchases, but this is such a worthy endeavor, and for the past couple of years GLW has massively augmented some really needy school libraries.

It's efforts like these--and the enthusiasm of people stepping up to get involved--that makes me feel like people truly do still value literature and arts in their children's schools, and are willing to go the extra mile to make sure kids and teens have access to such important aspects of the human experience as poetry, art, and stories. And it reminds me why I love being part of the kidlitosphere.

Spreading Poetry and Why We Love YA Fantasy

If you haven't checked out Greg Pincus's Kickstarter project Poetry: Spread the Word, you're missing out on a great opportunity to help support poetry in California schools, at a time when we're continuing to see funding dwindle and kids' access to the arts curtailed. Has there ever been a time when arts funding for schools hasn't been dwindling? Not in my lifetime, but if Greg's project succeeds, it will be a small beacon of hope that individual grassroots efforts can help combat what sometimes seems to be an inevitable slide toward seeing arts curriculum and creativity as optional and unimportant.

If Poetry: Spread the Word meets the $5,000 fundraising goal, Greg will do 40 or more school visits at no cost to schools and make original poetry available for free on his blog. If you've ever read Greg's poetry, you'll know that this is a real treat. There are 3 weeks left to pledge, and the more you pledge, the more goodies Greg will give you...

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Franny Billingsley is the author of the new fantasy novel Chime. In the latest Horn Book e-newsletter, Mr. Read Roger asks her about YA fantasy vs. adult fantasy, and her answer really resonated with me:

I do read some adult fantasy, but I find it often lacks the intimacy I crave from any novel. Either the cast of characters is too large, or the landscape is too big, or the stakes are too broad (I’d rather read about saving the character’s soul than saving the character’s kingdom), or the protagonist feels somehow distant. This last is probably a function of one or more of the foregoing, all of which add up to a kind of psychic distance from the character that in turn, distances me from the story.

I feel like this answer applies in a much larger sense to the question I often get asked, which is "why YA?" Adult fiction really can be distant and lack intimacy with the character. A character-driven book becomes a dry study, observing from above, rather than delving deep into the heart of the character. Thanks to Franny for articulating some of the reasons why I love YA so much--as a reader and as a writer.

Toon Thursday: Special Tax Time Edition

That's right, I spent inordinate amounts of time this year fussing with our home office deduction, not to mention figuring out how to deduct the art studio for the 3/4 of the year that Rob used it for his sabbatical workspace. So I hereby bring you A Day in the Writing Life 6: Your Home Office. (Click cartoon to view larger.)

For earlier installments of  A Day in the Writing Life, check out the Toon Thursday Archives.

In other news, are you ready for National Poetry Month? Who cares about taxes? Let's get poetic. Lots of kidlitosphere folks are participating, including blog buds like Liz Garton Scanlon, Gregory K., Jama Rattigan, Andromeda Jazmon, Mary Lee Hahn, and many many more. Original poems, classic poems--you'll find plenty of both. Stay tuned for an update of the full schedule on the Kidlitosphere Central site.  (As of this writing, the list still referred to last year's schedule.)

Kidlit NaPoMo Who?

It's not quite April 1 yet, but welcome anyway to Kidlit NaPoMo--the 2010 KidLit Celebration of National Poetry Month!

As usual, there's a lot going on around the kidlitosphere. Laura Evans of All Things Poetry has kindly compiled a list, which I've reprinted here, but it's also posted under the “April National Poetry Month” button on her website.

Let the poetry party commence! (And don't forget to visit Book Aunt this week for Poetry Friday!)

30 Poets/30 Days in April 2010 @ GottaBook

Gregory K. features 30 children’s poets, one-a-day during April in a Celebration of Children’s Poetry. Each poem is previously unpublished.

New GLBTQ Teen Poetry @ I'm Here, I'm Queer, What the Hell Do I Read?

Lee Wind is publishing many new Teen voices during April for National Poetry Month.

Poems about Teaching @ A Year of Reading

Mary Lee Hahn will post an original poem about teaching and/or learning each day in April. She will invite other teachers, librarians, students, learners and poets to send her their original teaching and/or learning poems (or links to their poem posts) for inclusion. The more the merrier!

Also at A Year of Reading, Franki will review poetry books and tell about the Poetry Month activities she conducts in the school library throughout April.

Poetry Book Giveaway @ Irene Lathan

Irene Latham is giving away a favorite poetry anthology each Poetry Friday during April 2010. She has instigated a challenge to write a poem a day during April. She invites everybody to join her.

Poetry Makers @ The Miss Rumphius Effect

Tricia Stohr-Hunt interviews 30 children’s poets. She starts off with Mary Ann Hoberman, Children’s Poet Laureate, USA. The list is stellar!

Poetry Potluck @ Jama Rattigan’s alphabet soup

Jama is posting an original poem and favorite recipe each weekday throughout the month of April by some of the Poetry Friday regulars.

Poetry Tag @ Sylvia Vardell's Poetry for Children

For National Poetry Month in April, we’re playing "Poetry Tag" at PoetryForChildren. Sylvia Vardell will be inviting poets to "play" along by offering a poem for readers to enjoy, then "tag" a fellow poet who then shares her/his own poem THAT IS CONNECTED to the previous poem in SOME way—by a theme, word, idea, tone-- and offers a sentence or two explaining that connection. The poets have responded enthusiastically and will be sharing a chain of poems by J. Patrick Lewis, X. J. Kennedy, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Avis Harley, Lee Bennett Hopkins, Joyce Sidman, and more!

Poetry Postcard Project @ Jone MacCulloch

Students write a poem which is placed on a postcard. All of the postcards are decorated. If you want one, send Jone (macrush53@yahoo.com) your address and she will mail one to you.

More information can be found here:
http://maclibrary.wordpress.com/poetry-postcard-project/

Thirty Days, Thirty Students, Thirty Poems @ Jone MacCulloch

Each day in April Jone is posting a new student poem on her blog, "Check It Out" (http://maclibrary.wordpress.com).

Share a Poem @ Laura Purdie Salas

Laura Salas will post a children’s poem per day from a poetry book she loves.

Original Poem-A-Day Challenge
The following people are challenging themselves to write a poem a day. Poems will appear on the poet’s site.

Susan Taylor Brown: http://susanwrites.livejournal.com
Mary Lee Hahn: http://readingyear.blogspot.com
Andromeda Jazmon: http://awrungsponge.blogspot.com/
Irene Latham: http://www.irenelatham.com/
Jone MacCulloch: http://deowriter.wordpress.com
Elizabeth Moore: http://tinyreader.blogspot.com/
April Halprin Wayland: http://www.aprilwayland.com/poetry/poetry-month/

There may be more, but for now, go forth and enjoy!