 It's my second year in teaching a poetry for children and young adults class to MLIS students at TWU. Thanks to the venerable Dr. Sylvia Vardell, who taught before me, I have had an excellent curriculum to use.
For their midterm, students are asked to create a video of a poem which several poetry friends have donated. Originally, I was to teach for just a year and then last fall, I was asked to return and teach. The class was returned to the program. Because of the late notice, I have only had ten students this year. They are a wonderful dedicated group. You know how I love featuring student work of all ages. Today I am featuring:
Previous Videos
On Saturday, the last four videos of the TWU students will be shared. 
Ruth at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town is hosting the final Friday of National Poetry Month. She's celebrating 18 years on her blog.
Today I am sharing a video that peeks at some of the poets' backstories regarding the poems they wrote got Lee Bennett Hapokins' latest, Bless Our Poets. This book is a treasure for any pet lover. It is gorgeously illustrated by Lita Judge. She captures the hearts of all these beloved pets. I created a video on CanvaPro. Please know you can use the pause button to read the backstory if the video is going to quick. I tried to really slow the speed of the video. I am so blessed that the poets I reached out to responded. Final Call for Favorite Poems and Poets. I'll share next week.Come Back Saturday for the Final TWU Poetry Videos
I've been teaching a poetry for children and young adults class to MLIS students at TWU. It's my second year. Thanks to the venerable Dr. Sylvia Vardell, who taught before me, I have had an excellent curriculum to use.
Previous Videos:
I've been teaching a poetry for children and young adults class to MLIS students at TWU. It's my second year. Thanks to the venerable Dr. Sylvia Vardell, who taught before me, I have had an excellent curriculum to use.
For their midterm, students are asked to create a video of a poem which several poetry friends have donated. Originally, I was to teach for just a year and then last fall, I was asked to return and teach. The class was returned to the program. Because of the late notice, I have only had ten students this year. They are a wonderful dedicated group. You know how I love featuring student work of all ages. Today I am featuring:
Previous Videos:
On Saturday, the last four videos of the TWU students will be shared.
Heidi at my juicy little universe is hosting today.
It's Earth Day weekend and such a great reason to celebrate besides all the poetry goodness. Have you checked in with the 2024 Progressive Poem? For Friday, April 19 Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core. Today I have an encore interview for Double Feature Friday (in fact the other interview is also an encore interview. Last year, during National Poetry Month, I interviewed Helen Frost. Today, she's back with her new book, The Mighty Pollinators. 
JRM: In my previous interview The Mighty Pollinators was in process. Do you have another project that you are working with him on? What do you enjoy about collaborating with Rick Lieder?
HF:That’s so interesting—I hadn’t remembered that Rick and I were working on this book the last time you and I corresponded! We have several new ideas, but I hesitate to say too much about a possible new project before it becomes more of a sure thing. I enjoy the process of our collaboration. We both pay close attention to the creatures of the natural world, each with our own focus. Rick is a scientist as well as a visual artist, and is knowledgeable and attentive to detail. In my effort to find precisely the right words for my poems, I spend a lot of time outdoors making close observations, and I find that the details in Rick's photographs, and the knowledge I gain from our conversations, enrich and strengthen both the poems and the end-notes. And of course the collaboration works both ways—each of us refining our work in cooperation with the other. JRM: I am sure you researched pollinators in depth. What information did you have to leave out? What was the most surprising tidbit of information you discovered? HF: I was amazed at how much information we were able to include, between the photographs, the poems, and the back-matter. It would have been nice to be more specific about which pollinators are attracted to which plants, for example, but I do think the book will serve as a great introduction for young children to an important and complex topic. Those who are interested, as I would have been at age 3 or 4, can learn more as they grow older. As for new information, I hadn’t thought much about night-time pollinators, and I loved learning more about the bats and moths as pollinators, as well as the little nocturnal mammals who carry pollen in their fur as they scurry around at night. JRM: I love you included the wind and other living creatures that some readers might not consider as pollinators. There are probably other pollinators not included. How did you narrow your focus? HF: We knew we wanted to give attention to bees, because they are so important, but we didn’t want them to carry the whole show. That’s why there is a butterfly on the cover. You’re right that there are way too many different pollinators to include them all, so we tried to focus on the most important pollinators. It would have been fun to include a picture and poem that showed a person hand-pollinating something. I have a pawpaw tree that didn’t bear fruit for a few seasons. I knew it needed to be pollinated with pollen from a pawpaw tree of a different species, so I went to a nearby park and gathered pollen from several different pawpaw trees, then mixed it all up and, using a little paintbrush, spread pollen on my tree’s flowers at just the right time. I was so happy to have the delicious pawpaws a few months later! JRM: Was there a poem you wanted but had to cut? HF: Yes, Rick had some beautiful images of mosquitoes, and we were able to include one of them on the right side of the end-matter pages. We didn’t have space for this poem though: Mosquito I’m a male mosquito. Females are the ones who bite, and only when they need a meal before they lay their eggs. As for me-- I carry pollen, on two feathery antennae, and six skinny legs. JRM. Wow, Helen. Mosquitos would not have been on my list as pollinators. JRM: How can readers support our pollinators? HF:First: don’t kill them! Every year, someone comes to my door offering to “rid your yard of all the creepy crawlies.” This negative attitude toward insects is dangerous to the insects (obviously) but also, for many reasons, dangerous to humans. And then, don’t kill the plants they pollinate. Early spring plants such as dandelions and clover are sources of pollen for the early spring pollinators, so try to avoid mowing them down too soon or spraying them with herbicides. Also important: Plant trees and flowers that are native to wherever you live. Thank you for this thoughtful interview, Jone, and thank you for caring about The Mighty Pollinators. Helen, I am with you about not killing the creepy crawlies (well, I do have to deal with the sugar ants at times but that’s another story).
JRM:Would you have an early draft of a poem and then the final draft so readers can take a peek at the process?
HF: It’s a little embarrassing to show people my early drafts, especially handwritten notebook versions, but I can see how it might be interesting. A couple of notes: When writing in a notebook like this, I start on the right hand page, then continue on the left page—just a quirky habit, but important to know if you’re trying to read this messy early draft. Note the date: 11/15/2020. When children’s lives were upended by the Covid pandemic, Rick and I, along with our editor, Sarah Ketchersid, started thinking about how to help young readers understand how something as small as the corona virus (misheard by one child as “corona pirates”) could change everything so suddenly and dramatically. We thought about other tiny things, and eventually settled on pollen as something “almost invisible” but not quite—very small and very important. like small children themselves, in a way.
Thanks for this fascinating interview and this gorgeous book.
Heidi at my juicy little universe is hosting today.
It's Earth Day weekend and such a great reason to celebrate besides all the poetry goodness. Have you checked in with the 2024 Progressive Poem? For Friday, April 19 Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core. Today I have an encore interview for Double Feature Friday (in fact the other interview is also an encore interview. In 2021, I had the pleasure of interviewing Joanne Rossmassler Fritz with her debut book, Everywhere Blue. Today I am interviewing her about her new book, Ruptured. It is a very personal story as Joanne took her real life experience to create a story about a father, a mother and a daughter, a medical emergency, and a secret that could impact their lives 
JRM: I remember in your previous interview that you shared how you were working on Ruptured. Would you like to expand more on how you came to write this book?
JRF: It took me quite a while, Jone. As you know, I'm a survivor of two ruptured brain aneurysms, twelve years apart. I knew I needed to write about it, but when I first tried, years ago, it wasn't working for me. I had attempted two different approaches, both from the POV of a high-school student who has a brain aneurysm rupture (and of course it would have been a YA novel). One was prose and one was verse. But I found it hard to write either one because I was still too close to the experience emotionally. In the spring of 2021, I had a "eureka" moment and realized I needed to take a step back and write about a girl whose mother has a brain aneurysm rupture. Once I tried that, it all fell into place. JRM: I felt the tension between Claire and her mom. I sensed the discomfort between the two adults and how Claire was experiencing it. How did you create these characters that are so real and the situation so heartbreaking? JRF: Thank you for saying that! I spent a lot of time thinking about the characters, and taking notes in a red notebook. I knew I had to make them different from myself and my husband, because this isn't an autobiography. And I don't have a daughter in real life. I have two grown sons. So Claire was completely invented. Of course, there's a bit of me in Claire. I suppose there's a bit of me in each of my characters. You need to get inside the character's head and imagine what they would do in each situation. As for the situation being so heartbreaking, thank you for saying that! I knew I needed more tension than just the Mom's rupture. A rupture happens suddenly, and then it's over, so to keep the tension going, I came up with the idea of Mom telling her daughter a secret. I worried about it at first. Would a Mom really tell her 13 year old daughter something this personal? Would this make the character less likable? But my editor accepted it and we worked together to make the Mom more relatable. JRM: I was expecting a character to have a ruptured brain aneurysm, I was not expecting the secret Mom shared with Claire. What a weight to carry especially as an only child. In your plotting and writing did you start with “I will have a character with a ruptured brain aneurysm and build around it? Or did you have an idea of a teen with discontented parents and build around it? (I guess I’m asking about process) JRF: Great question! As I said above, I started with the idea of the Mom having the rupture, so everything had to progress from there. And by inventing Claire, it gave me the distance I needed to write the story. JRM: What led you to set the story in Maine? JRF: This one is easy! Both of my ruptures coincidentally occurred in Maine, each time while we were on vacation. I never considered any other setting. In fact, in the beginning, I expected the entire story to take place in Maine. But as I worked on it more, I realized the timeline meant Claire needed to go to school, and Aunt Bobbi was the perfect person to take her home to Pennsylvania, and stay with her. JRM: Would you have a draft example and its final poem to share the changes? JRF: Yes! Here are two versions of Fever Memory from p.39-40: From Draft 2 (the first time the poem appeared): Fever Memory Staring at Mom’s face, I remember when I was three or four and woke up in the night, hot, confused, scared. My fingers had grown to huge fat sausages. I couldn't do anything with them. They were far too big and awkward, the rest of me far too small. I whimpered, crawled out of bed. needing my mother. But my parents’ closed bedroom door looked impossibly far away down a too-long hallway. And tiny, that door, so tiny. I cried louder. And then Mom appeared far away and small. Too small. Impossible to reach. Until a second later she was there next to me, helping me back into bed, smoothing a cool hand across my forehead, whispering calm quiet words, soothing me. Loving me. My mother. Now, looking at her, pain stabs my heart. She loves me. She’s always loved me. Get better, Mom. I need you. We need you. And here's the final version, from Draft 4 (much shorter, as you can see, thanks to my editor's suggestions!): Fever Memory Staring at Mom’s face, I remember when I was three or four and woke in the night, hot, confused, scared. My fingers felt like huge sausages. I couldn't do anything with them. I whimpered, crawled out of bed, needing my mom. But my parents’ closed bedroom door looked impossibly far away. I cried louder. Then Mom appeared, helping me back into bed. She pressed a cool hand to my forehead, whispering quiet words, calming me. Loving me. Get better, Mom. JRM: How did you come up with the lighthouse as an image? JRF: This is also easy. Maine has many lighthouses, and I've always loved them, mostly for what they symbolize, but also because of the majestic look of them. I'm fascinated that, before modern technologies existed, in order to avoid treacherous rocks along the coast, the only thing sailors or boat captains had to go by was the bright light from a lighthouse. And a real person had to live there and keep the lanterns lit. Do you remember Keep The Lights Burning, Abbie by Connie Roop? I've always loved that book! In today's world, any active lighthouses are now automatic and no one lives in them. In fact, most of them aren't used at all anymore. But they're still beautiful. And they still symbolize hope to me. JRM: I love how the book ended, hopeful and yet not totally wrapped up with a pretty bow. Have you had readers speculate about what happens next? JRF: Thank you! And yes, I have! It always surprises me. It's kind of cool that once we write a book, it doesn't belong to us anymore, and readers take what they want from it. (And I like to end all my books that way. Everywhere Blue ended that way too, not totally wrapped up.) JRM: The theme of family dynamics is apparent as it was in Everywhere Blue. I love the incorporation of Aunt Bobbi. I had an aunt that my teen self really related to. Who were your mentors? JRF: I had two aunts, who never married or had children, so in a way it was like having two extra parents! They took me traveling to places like New York City, for Broadway plays and museums. It was a lot of fun. JRM: Do you have a favorite scene or quote from the book? If you were to give a reading, what might you read to the audience? Was there a surprise for you in writing this novel? JRF: A surprise? I think all of my books surprise me a bit, because I'm not a plotter. I'm a pantser. So as I work my way toward my end goal, something inevitably surprises me. There are poems in this book that I had no plan to write, but as I struggled my way through the first draft, I knew it needed more. And the poems popped into my head. It's hard to pick one favorite scene, but I do have a personal reason to love the poem Stairs on p. 242, because that's exactly what my devoted husband did for me. My memory was beginning to return then, and I can still remember climbing the stairs sideways, one step at a time, with my husband a few steps below me in case I stumbled. And my favorite quote is still the tagline: "Is it wrong to grieve for someone who is still alive?" Originally, that was the first line of the opening poem. If I were to give a reading, I'd probably read the first five poems or else I'd read Trompe L' Oeil on page 61. JRM: What are you currently working on? JRF: Another Middle Grade verse novel. It's not very far along yet, so I don't want to say too much! I can only say that it returns to an environmental theme, in the woods. And this time, it's a middle child, feeling squeezed in a large family. Thank you so much for this interview, Joanne. I hope others get a chance to read this book. And PF Friends, if you would like to win a signed copy, just drop a comment. Joanne is graciously donating a copy to readers of this blog. There is still time to share your favorite poem or poet by filling out this form. We all have more than one poem or poet we love, probably we have many mentor poems. Don’t overthink it, just share one. Favorite Poem or Poet Anyone?2024 National Poetry Month Saturday Matinee, Featuring the Work of Texas Women's University Students4/13/2024
I've been teaching a poetry for children and young adults class to MLIS students at TWU. It's my second year. Thanks to the venerable Dr. Sylvia Vardell, who taught before me, I have had an excellent curriculum to use.
For their midterm, students are asked to create a video of a poem which several poetry friends have donated. Originally, I was to teach for just a year and then last fall, I was asked to return and teach. The class was returned to the program. Because of the late notice, I have only had ten students this year. They are a wonderful dedicated group. You know how I love featuring student work of all ages. Today I am featuring:
Welcome to the Poetry Friday Party here! I am so happy to be hosting this Friday. I think the posts are even sweeter during National Poetry Month. I am so excited to share an interview with Carol Labuzzetta, and her newly released book, Picture Perfect Poetry: An Anthology of Ekphrastic Nature Poetry for Students.
(Spoiler alert: I have two poems in the book) The theme of my poetry month is 'doubleheaders". Double interview Fridays and double videos on my Saturday Matinees featuring my TWU students. 
JRM: What gave you the idea to curate a picture perfect anthology for students?
CL: My inspiration to create a photography-poetry anthology came from multiple sources. Being part of the Poetry Friday group over the years has impressed me with the quality of poems and the interest in photography many of us share on our weekly posts. I was also inspired to help get quality work published. My experience with submitting to literary magazines, contests, or other calls for submissions has not been positive. Some of you might remember that I even had issues with my own state poetry group due to poor communication regarding submission formats and acceptance or rejection of my work. These experiences led me to want to publish some of the great work I was seeing from other authors/photographers, as well as my own. I have excellent organizational skills and knew I could plan and produce an anthology that would be colorful, engaging, and result in publication for some that have never had work accepted before as well as those that were established authors/poets. My desire to have the work be for students and teachers comes from my own experience of founding and leading a third grade writer’s circle some years ago at our local elementary school. My group was comprised mostly of above benchmark learners, talented and gifted students, and highly motivated ones, willing and able to do more than their usual assignments. One of our month-long units was on poetry. My approach to poetry with the students was to instill confidence with various simple forms such as haiku, diamante, cinquain, and color poems, focusing on creating a picture with words for the reader. We also worked on the use of descriptive words, syllable counting, and not worrying about rhyme (since not all poetry rhymes). This approach seemed to alleviate some pressure for the students that surrounded what seemed like the daunting task of writing poetry. Poetry is scary for students; my aim was to have it not be. The poetry unit ended up being the most popular of our units during our yearlong meetings. I wanted to provide a volume of poetry that could be used as a mentor text, an instructional manual, or a self-instructive text for highly motivated students. Thus, I included back matter that could be referenced easily by teachers, students, homeschool groups, or anyone interested in writing poetry. My hope is that I’ve accomplished that with this anthology. JRM: What draws you to ekphrastic poetry? CL: My formal introduction to ekphrastic poetry occurred in 2021 when I participated in an anthologies webinar by Pomelo Books’ Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell that resulted in the book– Things We Do. Their webinars were informative and after taking Antho101 and 201, I was sure I could publish one of my own using ekphrastic poetry based on photography. Of course, I had heard of ekphrastic poetry before but never tried my hand at it, seriously. I am an avid photographer and often find that my photography informs my writing. There are two ekphrastic poems I’ve written that capture what I saw in my photograph. You can see these on my blog here, and here. These are not part of the anthology. I also feel that this form of poetry is something that students can try without feeling too intimidated. The artform that inspires the poetry, gives them something concrete to work with when writing. Ekphrastic poetry is also inclusive in that you can use a form of poetry that appeals to you to express what you see in the art whether that be a haiku, golden shovel, triolet, nonet, or others. JRM: What surprised you about the submission? CL: I think my timeline for the book worked out well. I provided three months, from August 1st to November 1st, for a submission window. All of the poems in the anthology were submitted and accepted during that time frame. I asked for a $10.00 fee from submitters for up to three poems. Only a few people questioned that fee. In the submission description, I informed those interested that the fee would help cover the cost of color printing and hiring an editor. As well as an indie author, I am an indie publisher–a one woman operation at Northern Loon Press. I created this publishing house when I released my poetry chapbook, Life’s Reflections in Few Words in 2022. In reality, the total of submission fees received covered about 75% of the editor fees. But it helped. I was surprised by the number of people I was able to attract to the anthology. I expected some I knew from the Poetry Friday group to participate but I also got participants from posting the call to twitter and to my state poetry group (which I had some difficulty with my call). I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the poems and photographs I received as well. Strangers were trusting me with their work and that really surprised as well as pleased me. JRM: What was your process for assembling the collection? CL: As I received submissions, I decided on whether to include the work in the anthology or not. Most, but not all, of what was submitted was accepted. Then, I had to get the photo and first rights releases signed by each author. This was an ongoing process for several weeks. Once I had all the submissions and permissions, I had to decide how I was going to layout (assemble) the book. But first, I had to make sure that submitted photographs were sized with the correct pixelation (minimum 300 dpi). I knew this was important because I had taken a graphic design course (mandatory curriculum) as part of my graduate degree (MS) in Natural Resources. Luckily, I own photography software to help me do this. In addition, I had to reorient some of the photographs. I had asked for portrait orientation in the submission directions but still got many landscapes. When necessary, I worked individually with an author to optimize their photograph(s) for publication. As they started to come in, but after resizing the pixels on the photographs as needed, I started adding them to Canva software for a trade Sized (6” x 9”) book templet. Somehow, I thought adding a colored background to each page based on the colors in the photograph would be nice. At that time, each author’s poems were grouped together, on consecutive pages, and given the same colored background. This changed at the end a bit, as I made sure the two page spreads were side by side. Early on, I decided on the font size and style for the poems, titles, and by-lines. I was careful to keep these consistent throughout. I kept track of all this information on a notepad and a spreadsheet at my desk. My editor, Rachel, Reyes, who I had worked with previously on my chapbook, caught any inconsistencies with font, size, layout, and style. She was a joy to work with and I hope we can work together again. When Rachel was finished editing, I sent most authors a note about what changes were suggested. All of these changes were very small. Most accepted the editor’s suggestions without hesitation. Once the book was reviewed, I reviewed it again and again and again, checking for different things each time. Small tweaks were made. The front and back matter were added. This was all done in Canva. The last piece was the most frustrating and demanded patience. It was uploading the book to KDP and reviewing the format for their trade sized books. The cover is a separate file from the book and the initial draft of the cover took me three days! The inside of the book was less frustrating but unfortunately I had internet issues with a slow and intermittent connection when I was trying to upload the manuscript. Going to my public library solved that issue. After three proof copies, ordered to review the small changes I made because I felt they were necessary to have the book be the best it could be, I pressed the publish button on April 6th. On the morning of the 7th, I woke to a message from Amazon that they had rejected my cover due to some illegible text. After examination It turned out to be the text on the spine of the book. I spent several hours trying to figure out how to fix it, but finally I came across a solution. The book went live that afternoon! JRM: What tips do you have for people who are interested in indie/self-publishing? CL: Each day in April, I am releasing tips on indie publishing on my WordPress blog, The Apples in My Orchard. You can check my posts for more of my process and the tips resulting from it. One thing that should be impressed upon the readers of this interview is that if you have a desire to publish or be published, it is doable with today’s technology. Do not believe everything you read in forums about whether you can or cannot use certain formats to create your book. If I had stopped after reading some of the “advice” online, this anthology would never have come to life! The Picture Perfect Poetry book was laid out in Canva. The files were converted to PDF and uploaded to KDP. Both of these methods were touted as not being possible by people in online forums. Do NOT believe everything you read. Instead, try it for yourself. I am working on finishing the book’s upload to Ingram Spark for it to be distributed to their markets as well as Amazon’s. I hope to have that done soon. However, it is another platform with another learning curve. Bear in mind that you will almost certainly have to do one or more part of a book more than once, unless you are well versed in the self-publishing world, the software you use, and the distribution platform you choose. It is all worth it! I hope the book is widely read and enjoyed. I want to thank Jone for this interview and allowing me to share my perspective on creating a poetry anthology and the field of indie publishing. I enjoyed working with the poet-photographers and plan to do this again in the future. I thank them all for trusting me with their work. I hope they feel that I treated their pieces with reverence. Thank you, Carol, for this encouraging and insightful interview. I for one, have been toying with the possibility of an anthology one day. Below is a sneak peak at one of my poems. I originally had written the seedling poem for submission in one of the Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell books. I went in search of the picture perfect seedling photos. Seedlings are not easy to photograph! And it was quite comical with me on the ground or bent over fallen logs to capture a seedling with my husband , daughter and grand girls on the adventure. I hope that this book reaches a wide audience. 
Next up is Liz Garton Scanlon's new book and interview. Please leave your link with Mr. Linky. NOTE: Mr. Linky is cranky. You need to have a small image to upload. Elect the image, when you push enter and it says close, close it and refresh your page, your link should be there.
Note: Please link at Mr. Linky in Part 1 of Poetry Friday. Welcome back to part two of my poetry author’s interviews. I was very happy that Anne Irza-Leggat connected me with Liz and her new book, Everyone Starts Small. JRM: Where did the seed for this book come from? LGS: I love the wordplay you embedded in this question, Jone -- thank you! I write a lot about the natural world because of how enraptured I am with it and, also, how worried I am for it. This particular manuscript was inspired by two books -- The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben and Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake, both of which are chock-full of fascinating and heartening stuff, but are decidedly for grown-up readers. I wanted to grab the essence of what I learned from those books and translate it into something accessible and alive for young readers. JRM: What kind of research did you do? What information did you have to leave out? What was the most surprising tidbit of information from the research? LGS: When I dug into the interconnected lives of trees and fungi, I was utterly wowed by how smart and resilient these living worlds are, and what impeccable examples they offer of how to protect and lift one another other up. There was so much information I couldn't include -- like the fact that trees form intricate networks for sharing nutrients and messages and support, via chemical compounds and scent and even sound! But I was able (I hope) to evoke the reality that (as Peter Wohlleben said in The Hidden Life of Trees) "a tree can be only as strong as the forest that surrounds it." We are, none of us, as safe or well alone as we are together. JRM: Was there a verse you wanted to include but had to cut? LGS: Not a particular verse, but the tenor of the piece changed quite a bit. The early drafts leaned into a friendly competition between tree and water, and who could grow bigger and stronger, faster. There is still a hint of that, in the final book, but I became much more interested in how everything -- tree and water and bug and berry -- grows together. The threat or competition really isn't between them so much as an external thing being imposed upon them, thanks to the impact of human activity and climate change. 
JRM: Would you have an early draft of a poem and then the final draft so readers can take a peek at the process? LGS: My poet-friends Laura Purdie Salas and Tanita Davis are both amazing at capturing their own processes -- sometimes even via video. I'm envious because I'm less organized or maybe less conscious of the discreet steps of my process. But here's an example of a poem from a small collection I've been working on. You'll see that as it evolved, it became way more specific and, to my mind at least, child centered. JRM: Would you have a tip for teachers on how to use this book? LGS: I hope it will be read and enjoyed as "just a story" but also that students will notice that the "characters" in the book, while not human, are very much alive and engaged with the world and with one another! Tree has been given the primary speaking voice here, but I'd love for students to empower the other natural elements to speak, too! What would Wind say if we were listening? What might Bug wish for? What is Berry afraid of? The more empathy we build in this way, the more motivated we'll be to serve and stand up for and save the planet. I really believe that. JRM: What advice might you have for aspiring young poets of any age? LGS: Read your work aloud. Write and then read it aloud, then revise and read it aloud, then tweak and tweak again and read it aloud. Every time I do this I hear what's there, what's missing, and what I ought to do next. It's magic. JRM: How can readers support our environments? LGS: There are all sorts of hands-on ways for kids to engage their inner environmentalists, from picking up litter, to planting for pollinators, to helping compost food waste. Bigger picture? Reading and learning about our wild planet is the first step toward activism. To really know the Earth is to love her, to love her is to ensure she survives. And then, as Tree says in the book, Everyone Wins.
I do hope you will return on Saturdays to see the Saturday Matinee featuring my TWU student poetry videos. Here is last week: 2024 National Poetry Month Saturday Matinee, Featuring the Work of Texas Women's University Students.
This Saturday, April 13, 2024, the videos will feature poems by Jay Brazeau and Sally Murphy will be featured. You may want to check in on the 2024 Progressive Poem. It’s at Buffy Silverman on April 11 and Linda Mitchell at A Word Edgewise on April 12. There is still time to share your favorite poem or poet by filling out this form. We all have more than one poem or poet we love, probably we have many mentor poems. Don’t overthink it, just share one. Note: Please link at Mr. Linky in Part 1 of Poetry Friday 2024 National Poetry Month Saturday Matinee, Featuring the Work of Texas Women's University Students4/6/2024
, I've been teaching a poetry for children and young adults to MLIS students at TWU . It's my second year doing so. Thanks to the venerable Dr. Sylvia Vardell, who taught before me, I have had excellent curriculum to use.
For their midterm, students are asked to create a video of a poem which several poetry friends have donated. Originally, I was to teach for just a year and then last fall, I was asked to return and teach. The class was returned to the program. Because of the late notice, I have only had ten students this year. They are a wonderful dedicated group. You know how I love featuring student work of all ages, Today I am featuring Sea Dance by Theresa Gaughan created by Miranda F. and Grape by Sandy Brehl created by Alisha G.
"Sea Dance" written by Theresa Gaughan, created by Miranda F.
"Grape" written by Sandy Brehl, video created by Alisha G.
n Thanks to Irene at Live Your Poem for hosting the first Friday of National Poetry Month. The theme of my poetry month is 'doubleheaders". Double interview Fridays and double videos on my Saturday Matinees featuring my TWU students. World Aquatic Animal Day was April 3 so the first two books feature sea animals. Part II, is an interview with Randi Sonenshine and her gorgeous book The Den That Octopus Built. The book birthday is set for May 21, 2024.  JRM: From a lodge built by a beaver to a den built by an octopus, how did you decide on the octopus to be the next book? RS: My agent, Kendra Marcus of BookStop Literary, called me one night and told me I had to watch My Octopus Teacher because it was going to be my next book. She was right, of course! I was spellbound! Octopuses are such fascinating creatures, and though we have learned a lot about them, there is still so much we don’t know. They have an uncanny intelligence and an almost universal appeal. Their dens, though not elaborate structures like the wren’s nest or beaver’s lodge, are unique and central to the life cycle of an octopus. JRM: Are you creating a series? What will be next? RS: I think there’s potential for additional books in the animal habitats series, but there are none in the works at the moment. Currently, I’m working on another project, also a lyrical exploration of one aspect of the animal world, but wholly different from this series. JRM: I am sure you researched octopi in depth. What information did you have to leave out? What was the most surprising tidbit of information from the research? RS: I try to integrate as much of my research as I can within the main text, but given that the text is poetic and spare, that's a challenge, which is why I include back matter. With this book, though, there was so much I wanted to include, I couldn’t fit it all in the back matter. I would love to have included more about their hunting techniques, which I find fascinating. I mention the pounce attack in one of the verses, but they sometimes even trick their prey by reaching all the way around with one arm to tap it. When the backs up, thinking the danger is in front of it, it backs right into the octopus, where it is quickly trapped in the webbing between the cephalopod’s arms. To add insult to injury, the octopus then injects it with a paralyzing neurotoxin from its beak. Of all the fascinating things I learned, though, the most surprising had to do with words. Like you, I always thought the plural of octopus was octopi, but it’s octopuses or octopus. JRM: Wow RS:It has Greek roots rather than Latin. Also, its limbs are not called tentacles. They are arms. Squids have tentacles, which are long and stringy with suckers only on their clubbed ends, while octopus arms are shorter, muscular, and have rows of suckers all along their length. JRM: I love the pattern from the classic This is the House that Jack Built. What was your process for getting the rhyming and the cadence to flow and to include the information about the octopus? RS: As this is the third companion book, the cadence is very natural to me. In fact, while I’m in the writing phase, I often think in that rhythmic pattern, even when I’m not actually writing! While I’m researching, I also jot down words, phrases, and sometimes lines that are evoked by what I’m learning. Those words and the meter are constantly percolating in my brain, and as phrases or lines come to me (usually in the car, the shower, or right before I fall asleep!) I jot them down in the notes app on my phone. I’m a stickler for meter and rhyme, so I will obsess over every syllable until these are perfect. Sometimes that means changing a word or phrase or inverting the two clauses that make up the couplet. Two absolute essentials during this phase of the work are RhymeZone and thesaurus.com. I also read the verses out loud over and over and have others read them aloud. If anyone stumbles over a line or forces the meter, I know it needs work. JRM: Research or create the rhymes? What is your favorite? RS: I love the research, but it can take me down a long and winding rabbit hole! Once I start to write, though, it’s such an exciting challenge. It’s like a puzzle; I need to find just the right “piece” to fit in that poetic space.I also love revising for other sound and meaning elements to make the text as musical and lyrical as I can. With each revision pass, I layer and refine elements like alliteration, assonance, figurative language, and sensory images to create something that’s rich in both sound and meaning. JRM: Was there a verse you wanted but had to cut? RS: I wanted to include a verse that showed her using a shell or some kind of vessel as a temporary shelter: This is the shell she squeezes inside/ a quick, makeshift shelter to rest in and hide/ while far from the den that Octopus built. Instead, I opted for the verse in which she uses shells around her as armor: These are the shells she wears like a sheath/ keeping her safe from Tiger Shark’s teeth/ when she’s far from the den that Octopus built. JRM: How can readers support our aquatic environments? RS:: That’s a great question! First, it’s important for readers to understand that the ocean supports humans, just as it does aquatic life. In fact, about ten percent of people in the world depend on the ocean for their livelihood, and there is a limited supply of that water. The easiest and most important thing we can do is use less water. Taking shorter showers, turning off the water when we brush our teeth, and making sure we don’t have leaks are all great ways to conserve water. Also important is reducing the amount of contamination in our oceans, especially plastics. Recycling, using reusable water bottles, and using less disposable plastics like take-out cutlery, straws, and containers will go a long way towards reducing this threat to our aquatic life. JRM: Thank you for your wonderful interview. I was unaware of the plural of octopus and that they are limbs.  JRM: Would you have an early draft of a poem and then the final draft so readers can take a peek at the process? RS: Well, my process is (literally) all over the place! First, I jot down verses and partial verses in my notebook and/or on my brainstorming document on my computer, as well as in the notes on my phone, so I have snippets and scraps in multiple places before I stitch them together into a cohesive draft. Before I draft, I put the rough verses (usually multiple options) on color-coded notecards to help group them and determine the sequence, all the while playing with the language and sentence structure, so by the time I draft the manuscript, I have worked through a lot of revisions, and the changes after that are not as extreme. To show that evolution, I’ve added some of those early octopus “inklings’ to my first draft to share with you and your readers. Please stop by for the Double Feature Saturday Matinee featuring my TWU Students. And I host next Friday.
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AuthorAll photos and poems in these blog posts are copyrighted to Jone Rush MacCulloch 2006- Present. Please do not copy, reprint or reproduce without written permission from me. 
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