My "Mary Oliver" Summer Days...

        

          "If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,

           don't hesitate. Give in to it."

So wrote Mary Oliver in her now-so-relevant poem "Don't Hesitate."

I'm happy to report: I've spent many a day this summer giving in to

Joy, thanks to the writers who helped me make my life more "wild

and precious."

In June, self-proclaimed Joy Seeker and debut author Jamie 

Freedlund launched her original picture book Finding Joy, 

illustrated by her daughter Reese and Natalie Seaton.

As the book's back flap shares, Jamie's the founder of Mattea's Joy,

a non-profit organization that helps families with hospitalized kids

find joy in their journey.  Created to honor the memory of her 

daughter Mattea, Mattea's Joy provides care, connection and

community for anyone navigating the challenge of having a

hospitalized child.

Jamie donates a book to a Children's Hospital with each book

purchased.

Writing this children's book was Jamie's childhood dream come 

true.

Helping Jamie learn the picture book format, grow her story, revise her story, then guiding her as she took on the responsibility of independently publishing and marketing the book still has me dancing The Happy Dance.

The book's back cover declares, "Finding Joy is easy...if you know where to look!"

How true because...

...here I am in July, seated with my returning Manuscript

Workshop writers at the Landgrove Inn in Landgrove, Vermont,

enjoying yet another 5-star meal in a Joy-filled week.

I've facilitated this Workshop since 2016, honored to continue

its founder Barbara Seuling's unswerving commitment to

helping children's book creators tell their stories.

As always, by week's end my waistline expands (exponentially)

but more importantly, as always, so does my heart.

It gladdens me so, to see the writers I've loved seeding and 

feeding continue to grow and thus blossom - digging deeper,

revising and fine-tuning, so their singular stories connect

with their intended Young Readers.

In Finding Joy, Jamie Freedlund's Mattea learns: you find Joy 

when you give Joy.

Prior to the Workshop, I gifted each writer with a copy of

Tiffany Yates Martin's Intuitive Editing (FoxPrint Ink, 2020) - 

and - her slam-dunk brilliant Self-editing Checklist.

(Note: I declared Tiffany Yates Martin our "Visiting Author."

Her second book, The Intuitive Author (FoxPrint Ink, 2024),

served up numerous Food for Thought conversations.)

Channeling Mary Oliver, I also gifted each writer with the  

opportunity to express her writerly intentions...    

...and the reminder to keep an open heart.

Channeling my Positivity, I made sure each writer left

appropriately inked...

...with a flying wish and a prayer.

As luck would have it, though Summer's end approaches, 

I'm still giving in to Joy.

Overcoming awful, awful Despites, my writer Gail Aherne 

publishes her picture book Mouse and Bee, illustrated by

Lisa Blakeborough, this Fall, thanks to her successful

Kickstarter campaign that raised $12, 800 this past May.

The book began as a collaboration between Gail and her

dear friend Laura J. Foltz, but then the unimaginable

happened: Laura died unexpectedly.

Check out the Story Behind the Story on the Kickstarter

page to learn how Gail found the courage to seek a new

illustrator who could give Mouse and Bee a new life,

one that honored Laura's Spirit.

With each page Gail forwards as a preview, I add a step

or three to my Happy Dance.

The truth is, every teacher-student pairing is ripe for

rejoicing, no matter the season. 

Should you seek Joy on this Summer's day, click HERE

to listen to Mary Oliver read aloud her poem 

"The Summer Day" and HERE to listen to Kyndall

read aloud "Don't Hesitate."

Happy Giving In wherever you find Joy!

Esther Hershenhorn

p.s.

Thanks to Margaret at Reflections on the Teche for 

hosting today's Poetry Friday.

Post #999, and the Poem in My Pocket

In honor of National Poetry Month, today I'll be sharing the Poem in My Pocket. But first, a word about a blog milestone. When I went to create this post, I noticed it will the 999th we've published here on TeachingAuthors!

The REAL celebration begins one week from today, when we commemorate our SEVENTH blogiversary! Hard to believe we've been at this that long. I speak for all the TeachingAuthors when I say we're so very grateful for the wonderful connections we've made through this blog. But more on that next week.

For today, I want to continue our current topic. In honor of next Thursday's Poem in Your Pocket Day, each TA is sharing the poem in her pocket. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading all the choices so far. (If you missed them, Bobbi provides links along with her pocket poem in her post.)

I haven't been writing poetry lately, so instead of trying to write a poem a day for National Poetry Month I decided to read one. After Myra's post at Gathering Books introduced me to Mary Oliver's Felicity (Penguin), I chose that wonderful collection as the source of my poems for this month.

When I read the very first poem, "Don't Worry," on April 1st, I felt as though Oliver was speaking directly to me. I've been feeling frustrated about how long it's taking me to complete several major writing projects, especially my project to indie publish Rosa, Sola to bring it back into print. Oliver's poem was just what I needed that day, which happened to be Good Friday, a day of fasting and prayer for me:

    Don't Worry
    by Mary Oliver

    Things take the time they take. Don't
        worry.
    How many roads did St. Augustine follow
        before he became St. Augustine?

         from Felicity © 2015

As I continue along this treacherous, twisty road of children's publishing, having Oliver's poem in my pocket gives me solace and inspiration. I'm looking forward to finding more inspiration in this week's Poetry Friday roundup, which is at Michelle's Little Ditty. If you don't already have a poem for your pocket, perhaps you'll find one there!

Happy writing!
Carmela

Three Favorite Sparklie Poems

I so enjoyed April Halprin Wayland's interview with Paul B. Janeczko! Thank you, April!

And congratulations to Jone M, who won IN DEFENSE OF READ-ALOUD!


Continuing our celebration of poetry, here's another of my favorite poets.

morguefile.com

 Cynthia Cotten   is a gentle writer. Her poetry sparkles like the water on a creek chanced upon during an early morning walk. Very gentle and soothing, and unexpected. Cynthia’s poetry, like all good poetry, is an emotional exchange. The language of the poem, as Mary Oliver taught us, is the language of the particulars. And Cynthia’s language incorporates images that are at once tender and sensuous. Her rhythm twinkles, as in her Night Light, and sometimes the rhythm pops like a good smirk, as in her Ack!

But sometimes, just like that early morning creek, Cynthia's poems sends shivers up our spine, as in her poem, Missing.

Night Light

 Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
 I know what you really are:
a blinking bug in flickering flight,
 lighting up my yard tonight,
in the treetops, near the ground,
 winking, flashing all around.
 I watch you and I'm mystified--
 how did you get that bulb inside?


(from Switching on the Moon: A Very First Book of Bedtime Poems, collected by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters. Illustrated by G.Brian Karras. Candlewick Press, 2010)

  ACK!

 I always know just what to say.
 The perfect words are there--
words that render others speechless,
uttered with such flair.
My comments are insightful,
my wit is unsurpassed.
Oh, yes, I know just what to say--
too bad the moment's passed.

(from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Middle School - compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong. Pomelo Books, 2013)

Missing

 My brother is a soldier
 in a hot, dry
sandy place.
He's missing--
missing things like
baseball, barbecues,
fishing, French fries,
chocolate sodas,
flame-red maple trees,
 blue jays,
and snow.


I'm missing, too--
missing
his read-out-loud voice,
his super-special
banana pancakes,
his scuffed-up shoes
by the back door,
his big-bear
good night
 hug.



There are people
with guns
in that land of sand
who want to shoot
my brother.


I hope
 they miss him,
 too.

 (from America at War - Poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins. Illustrated by Stephen Alcorn. Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2008)




morguefile.com

“Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields...Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.” -- Mary Oliver 

And don't forget our giveaway!   Enter here to win an autographed copy of Paul's newest anthology, his 50th book, Death of a Hat, illustrated by Chris Raschka.  You can enter between now and 4/22/15 (which just happens to be TeachingAuthors' 5th Blogiversary!)


Bobbi Miller

A Trio of Writer's Bookshelf Favorites, Poetry Friday Edition

Happy Poetry Friday, all!

Esther kicked off our current topic, recommendations for your writer's bookshelf, by sharing a favorite of hers I'd never heard of: M. B. Goffstein's A Writer.

I have so many cherished books on my writer's bookshelf that it's hard to pick just one, so I'm going to share three. And, in honor of Poetry Friday, they're all poetry-related.

First up, I'd like to recommend my favorite book on writing poetry, Mary Oliver's A Poetry Handbook: A Prose Guide to Understanding and Writing Poetry (Mariner Books). One of the book's most enlightening chapters for me is the one titled "Sound." Its opening paragraph reads like a poem:

"To make a poem, we must make sounds. Not random sounds, but chosen sounds."  

Oliver goes on to explain that "A 'rock' is not a 'stone'" when it comes to sound. And she offers advice on how to choose words with sounds that best fit a poem's meaning and mood. While aimed at poets, this book contains valuable advice for picture book authors and novelists, too.

The second book I'd like to recommend is Seeing the Blue Between: Advice and Inspiration for Young Poets (Candlewick), compiled by Paul B. Janeczko. Here's an excerpt from the book's description:

 ". . . in this unprecedented volume, thirty-two internationally renowned poets provide words of wisdom and inspiring examples of their own work for new poets everywhere. . . . This rich volume - an ideal resource for classroom teachers and a beautiful gift for budding writers of all ages - offers the perfect opportunity to do just that." 

Since today is Poetry Friday, I'll share the first stanza of one of my favorite poems in this collection:

      Poets Go Wishing
      by Lilian Moore

      Poets go fishing
      with buckets
      of words,
      fishing
      and wishing. . . . 

(You can see the entire poem reproduced in this blog post at Blue Sky, Big Dreams.)

I love the image of poets "fishing with buckets of words." My third and final recommended title today is a journal to help all poets on their fishing expeditions: The Poet's Notebook: Inspiration, Techniques, and Advice on Craft (Running Press), created by David Stanford Burr. As the description says,

"Part blank journal, part helpful workbook and reference, its pages are highlighted with insights from famous poets, an exercise to summon the muse, and definitions of classic poetic techniques. . . . This ingenious and useful writing tool also includes a six-page appendix with rules of form, meter, and rhythm to help readers compose their own sonnets, haiku, and other poems."

It's a slim, lightweight journal that's easy to carry along on your next "fishing" expedition.

If you have any recommendations for poetry-related books from your writer's bookshelf, I hope you'll share them in the comments. And don't forget to check out the Poetry Friday round up today at A Teaching Life. And, in case you missed it, be sure to read the poem, "Pencil Speaks to Writer" by our Mystery Guest TeachingAuthor in our latest Wednesday Writing Workout.
 

Happy writing!
Carmela