e-poetry news

A variety of electronic tidbits have crossed my desk recently, so I thought I might gather them all here to share. It's a hodge podge of blog world news, best lists, book plugs, and downloadable readings. Check it out!

Poet David Harrison has launched a new blog and is featuring a "Word of the Month Poetry Challenge" (along with links for young aspiring poets). He joins the likes of Tricia Stohr-Hunt, Elaine Magliaro, Greg Pincus, among others, in helping nudge along the poetry writing process for those who care to join in.

So many poets writing for young people have joined the blogging fray with fascinating contributions for all who are looking for creative ways to connect kids and poetry. I love Douglas Florian's cafe, don't you? It has his usual punny way with words and images. Calef Brown's newish blog is full of visual treats including poem videos and slide shows. And Charles Ghigna uses his blog to launch a new poem each Sunday for teachers to have on Monday to share with kids. Cool concept, huh?

More "best" lists are coming out all the time--which I enjoy because I love lists, but still take with a grain of salt because something is always missing-- and here are two that are interesting:
"100 Great Blogs That Every Young Writer Should Read"
&
"100 Great Web Sites for Poetry Lovers"

The Morgan Library in New York has just opened a new show featuring the art and work of William Blake. And just for this show, award winning actor Jeremy Irons recorded a reading of Blake's poem, "The Tyger" which is absolutely wonderful. Download it here.

Speaking of award winning actors, Julie Andrews has just released her own anthology of poetry for young people in collaboration with her daughter, Emma Hamilton. There are nearly 150 poems-- some written by Julie and kids as part of a lovely family tradition-- and the book includes a CD of original music with 20 poems read by the authors. The two women were on early morning television recently plugging the book and I was pleased to see Ms. Andrews be such an advocate for reading poetry aloud with kids, HEARING the music of the words (and the poetry of song lyrics) and soft-pedaling her own poems in favor of those by more prominent poets. Let's see if I can link to the clip. I know she has written and edited several books for kids, including her own imprint, but I was still very pleased to hear her hit "all the right notes" when it comes to selecting and sharing poetry with kids in natural, inviting ways. Poetry for young people needs every advocate it can find, don't you think?

P.S. I'm sure I've omitted a ton of other wonderful things that poets and poetry advocates are up to for which I apologize. Please comment if you have more tidbits to share!

Check out the rest of Poetry Friday hosted by poet Laura Purdie Salas, who keeps a pretty terrific blog of her own rolling along!

Posting by Sylvia M. Vardell c 2009. All rights reserved.


Image credit: cscs.ch