It’s time to catch up on a variety of poetry news items that I’ve been saving up.FIRST, from Children’s Bookshelf at Publishers’ Weekly: Mary Ann Hoberman, who was appointed Children’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation last fall, is taking poetry to the masses via the Internet. The Children’s Poet Laureate Presents is a video-podcast series in which Hoberman reads from both her own books and from classic works of children’s poetry. The series can be viewed at the Poetry Foundation’s Web site. In the first three podcasts, Hoberman reads from William Jay Smith’s Laughing Time, The Collected Nonsense of Edward Lear and Hoberman’s own I Like Old Clothes.
Also at the Poetry Foundation: the Poetry Out Loud Project. The National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation have partnered with State Arts Agencies of the United States to support the expansion of Poetry Out Loud, which encourages the nation's youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and performance. This exciting program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage. About:
SECOND: Carol Ann Duffy has been named British poet laureate, the first woman to receive that honor. Her children's collections include Meeting Midnight (1999) and The Oldest Girl in the World (2000). Fun fact: we share the exact same birthday, she and I (day, month AND year!).
THIRD: Thanks to Jenny Schwartzberg at the Newberry Library for information about a special online poetry exhibit. The BBC online has 6 pictures of illustrations from the exhibit at the British Library on 400 years of children's poetry.
FOURTH: The International Youth Library in Munich, Germany is holding a poetry forum on June 25-26 in celebration of its 60th anniversary. During the two-day international forum, writers, illustrators, publishers, literary critics, and specialists will discuss the importance and the enduring quality of children’s poems and the challenge of illustrating them. The aim of the conference will be to present different variants of current children’s poetry, to become acquainted with several approaches and perspectives, and to analyze the interaction between text and illustration. In addition to the talks, a kaleidoscope of poems and images will be presented to the audience. Presenters include German poet Jutta Richter, British poet Andrew Fusek Peters, Dutch poet Ted van Lieshout, Austrian poet Gerda Anger-Schmidt, and French poet Lionel Le Neouanic. I’ll thrilled to say that I’ll be attending and presenting about poetry in the U.S.!
FIFTH: Help spread the word about Reading Is Fundamental's (RIF) 2009 Read with Kids Challenge, aimed at bringing attention to the importance of adults reading with children. Check it out. This year they have raised their goal to 5 million minutes read with kids, over 3 months.
Honorary team captains include children's book authors Mo Willems, Sandra Boynton, Al Roker, and others.
SIXTH: Check out the Teachers' Domain at WGBH, a digital library of free media resources which features an online Adolescent Literacy Collection targeting struggling readers in grades 5-8, as well as a poetry collection based on the PBS series Poetry Everywhere.
SEVENTH: If you’re attending the ALA conference in Chicago in July, DO NOT MISS the annual ALSC Poetry Blast #6 on July 13, 5:30-7:30 p.m. The line-up of poets sounds fantastic: Carmen T. Bernier-Grand, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, David Harrison, Bobbi Katz, Laura Purdie Salas, Jon Scieszka, Joyce Sidman, Marilyn Singer, Hope Anita Smith, Susan Marie Swanson, Joyce Carol Thomas. Check out the web page and become a “friend” on Facebook!
Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2009. All rights reserved.
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2 comments:
I think that's awesome, kids reading poetry. They need something with substance. My newly released book; Poetry in Motion or Speedbumps of Life is a book for all ages.
Kids like poetry a lot!
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