Poetry news nuggets

Once again, a variety of poetry items have crossed my desk, so I thought I'd gather and share them here. Plus, please indulge a bit of self-promotion of a variety of poetry projects I have in development with colleagues and students. More to come!

Poetry at the Kennedy Center
Don't miss Caroline Kennedy's POETS AND PRESIDENTS featuring poets Marilyn Nelson, Naomi Shihab Nye, Charles R. Smith, Jr., and Marilyn Singer (thanks for the info, Marilyn) interviewed by Maria Salvadore on Friday, Jan. 21. It was part of the Kennedy Center Performing Arts Program and is now available as a free video download for educators. There is also an educator's guide available. Register, download, and view for free at:
http://www.kennedy-center.org/education/pwtv/

CLPE Poetry Award News from IBBY Ireland
IBBY Ireland recently announced that the 2010 CLPE Poetry Award was won by Carol Ann Duffy for her anthology, New and Collected Poems for Children, illustrated by Alice Stevenson. The shortlist for the Award, which was generously sponsored by Travelling Books, included James Carter and Graham Denton's Orange Silver Sausage, Adrian Mitchell's Umpteen Pockets, illustrated by Tony Ross, Michael Rosen’s A-Z; The Best Children’s Poetry from Agard to Zephaniah and Kit Wright's The Magic Box, illustrated by Peter Bailey. The judges were John Agard, Andrew Lambirth and Lindsay MacRae. The chair of the judges was Margaret Meek Spencer.

FYI from the award website: The CLPE Poetry Award for a book of poetry for children was launched by the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) in 2003. Winners have included John Agard, Grace Nichols, Roger McGough and Carol Ann Duffy. In establishing this award we wanted to highlight an important branch of children’s literature and ensure that it receives proper recognition. The award is presented annually for a book of poetry published in the preceding year.

Upcoming British Conference:
Children's Playground Games and Songs in the New Media Age
This conference on Tuesday 15th March 2011 in the British Library Conference Centre, London will launch a new British Library website: Playtimes: A Century of Children’s Games and Rhymes. The website contains new material collected during the project, selections from the Library’s ‘Opie Collection of Children’s Games and Songs’ and films and photographs from other nationwide archives. The conference also involves the launch of the associated AHRC-funded research project and a keynote address by Professor Michael Rosen, former children’s laureate.

CYBILS Awards Announced Monday
Cybils Awards in each genre category will be announced on Monday, Feb. 14. The poetry finalists once again were:

• Borrowed Names by Jeannine Atkins
• Dark Emperor by Joyce Sidman
• Mirror, Mirror by Marilyn Singer
• Scarum Fair by Jessica Swaim
• Sharing the Seasons edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins
• Switching on the Moon edited by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters
• Ubiquitous by Joyce Sidman

Next Children’s Poet Laureate
The next Children's Poet Laureate will be announced at the Poetry Foundation's "Lily/Pegasus Awards" presentation to be held at "The Arts Club" in Chicago on May 11. Previous Laureates include Mary Ann Hoberman and Jack Prelutsky.

New Poetry e-Resources Coming
I’m getting my students this spring semester involved in helping to research and contribute to several poetry promotion projects debuting in April, including:


• Creating web sites for children’s poets who don’t already have one (such as Valerie Worth, Aileen Fisher, David McCord)
• Creating an electronic resource with readers guides and digital trailers for books that have won Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry award and honor distinctions
• Posting daily reviews of 2011 poetry titles in my Poetry Tag Reviews series

I'll let you know when all these resources go public.

Bookbird April 2011
I’m so excited about the April issue of Bookbird, the journal of international children’s literature that I co-edit. The entire issue is focused on the topic of poetry for children and includes 9 fascinating articles about poetry in Korea, France, Slovenia, the Netherlands, Greece, Slovakia, Romania, Spain, and the U.S. To subscribe to Bookbird, go here.

We have tried to include many actual poems and poem excerpts in both the original language and English wherever possible. We are so pleased to feature the poetry of JonArno Lawson, Helen Frost, Alain Serres, Iordan Chimet, Oton Župančič, Niko Grafenauer, Miroslav Košuta, Dane Zajc, Yiannis Ritsos, Dimitris Manthopoulos, Pavlina Pampoudi, Theti Chortiati, Daniel Hevier, Elena Čepčeková, Krista Bendová, Ľubomír Feldek, Miroslav Válek, Dong-min Ju, Pablo Neruda, Shuntaro Tanikawa, and even by children themselves throughout the pages of this issue.

TLA Poetry Round Up
Once again (for the 7th year in a row), I’ll be hosting the Poetry Round Up (modeled after the ALSC Poetry Blast) at the annual Texas Library Association conference in Austin on April 15. Participating poets include: Calef Brown, Julia Durango, Margarita Engle, Helen Frost, Kristine O’Connell George, Marilyn Singer, Robert Paul Weston, and Lisa Wheeler. Come join us, if you can. TLA puts on an amazing conference, if I do say so myself! Plus, I'll share more info about this session, even if you can't join us, I promise.

PoetryTagTime
Poet and friend Janet Wong and I are launching the first-ever electronic-only poetry anthology for children debuting on Kindle on April 1. It’s called PoetryTagTime and features 30 poems for children (ages 0-8) by 30 different prominent poets who “tagged” each other, one at a time, offering poems connected one to another. Lots more info about this special project coming soon.

 We are very excited about it!

Meanwhile, head on over to Carol's (Rasco) at RIF (Reading is Fundamental) for this week’s Poetry Friday gathering.

Image credit: 



poetry foundation, IBBYIreland, CYBILS, Kennedy Center, St. Peters College

Posting by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2011. All rights reserved.

The future of poetry publishing for kids

I was corresponding with master poet and anthologist Lee Bennett Hopkins about a project I am working on about trends in the last 20 years of children’s poetry (for an upcoming Book Links article). He said some things I found really intriguing—like the anthology is dead—and it led to a barrage of questions! He was kind enough to answer them all and allow me to share his responses here. See what you think…


SV: Shall we start with the bombshell? Your observations about the death of the children’s poetry anthology? Is it due strictly to the profit margin, given permission costs?

Lee: Anthologies of poetry for children have seen a dramatic decrease. In 2009, about twenty collections appeared; in 2010 a mere seven. I believe there are several reasons why collections are not appearing:

Permission costs are one problem. We cannot expect poets to write without compensation. Reprint fees, which were normally low, have sky-rocketed mainly due to publishers asking for all rights. Dealing with certain agents is another problem. Many are fair, yet one agent who handles a huge grouping of America’s top poets charges a high fee for one-time use in hardcover, another fee for paperback, another for book club rights, another for world rights. One single poem might add up to $l,000. It is totally impossible to use certain poet’s work with such fees. One cannot put the blame on publishers who have to pay the compiler an advance, an illustrator an advance, a permission budget – all before a manuscript moves from an editor’s desk to production.

A recent collection I did, SHARING THE SEASONS (McElderry Books, 2010), a book of 48 selections ran close to $10,000 in permission fees. Few readers realize the time and expense involved in merely clearing permissions.

Another problem is that certain major publishers who once published collections simply will not take on additional anthologies. It is frustrating that several have turned their back on the genre after having a history of publishing mega-hit volumes.

For a collection to work it has to have a strong backing from the house. Now we are seeing ‘celebrity’ collections, for example, Julie Andrews with Little, Brown, Caroline Kennedy with Hyperion. Few can compete with such names in the marketplace yet there should be room for more voices.

Another problem exists with many young editors who know little about poetry per se and are unwilling to chance an anthology on their list.

SV: How will new poets find an audience if not in anthologies?

Lee: New poets will always seek ways to get their voices heard. With new technology on the horizon, things might open up more. Again, little or no compensation might be forthcoming.

I hope the tide will turn among publishing houses. I don’t see it happening soon. There is always a house that will take a chance on a new poet.

SV: If publishers are less interested in anthologies, what formats for poetry books DO have a chance in the marketplace?

Lee: Picture book anthologies consisting of 14-20 poems will have a better chance than large collections. Again, the theme has to be strong.

SV: How are picture book poetry collections faring as picture books, in general, seem to be on the decline?

Lee: Publishing is a forever guessing game. If the poetry and artwork gel, books fare well. Examples are Joyce Sidman’s DARK EMPEROR AND OTHER POEMS OF THE NIGHT; published last year by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, the book received hosts of honors including a 2010 Newbery Honor Book. Another major hit was Marilyn Singer’s MIRROR MIRROR (Dutton, 2010).

So many factors enter into a book doing well in the marketplace. A strong collection with a fine artist will do as well as any picture book might.

SV: Which publishers still seem to seek out and publish poetry for young people, particularly new poets?

Lee: The only publisher in America who solely publishes a line of poetry is Boyds Mills Press/Wordsong.

Wordsong, started as a separate arm of Boyds Mills Press to emphasize poetry, has been quite successful with multi-award winning titles as CARVER: A LIFE IN POEMS, a Newbery Honor Book by Marilyn Nelson, HOW GOD FIXED JONAH by Lorenz Graham, illustrated by Ashley Bryan, an ALA Notable Book, and my own BEEN TO YESTERDAYS: POEMS OF A LIFE, recipient of the Christopher Award and an ALA Notable. The house not only publishes new voices, but keeps classic works in print as in the best selling ANOTHER JAR OF TINY STARS, featuring selected poems by all fifteen recipients of the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children Award. The award, first given in l977, is for an aggregate body of a poet’s work.

SV: Poetry publishing has dipped now and again in the past—what circumstances intervened then to boost poetry? What might make such a difference now?

Lee: Poetry has always been a ‘stepchild’ of the language arts. It is teachers and librarians who must promote the genre, make it part of everyday experiences for children. More inservice workshops are needed. We also need far more presentations at annual meetings/conventions. We must get contemporary poets out there reading, discussing their work. We also need to get publishers to take more chances.

Recent technology has also been a boon to promoting poetry. Popular blogs and web sites as:

Miss Rumphius Effect
Wild Rose Reader
Giggle Poetry
Potato Hill Poetry
Poetry4Kids

have done wonders for the genre. I am certain the future will bring even more.

SV: What changes do you see in how teachers and librarians respond to poetry for young people (if any)?

Lee: I find, have found, during decades of work in the field of poetry, once teachers and librarians are hooked they become hooked forever. Poetry must come into our children’s lives as naturally as breathing. They should hear poetry, be presented with the genre every day of their lives.

Three must reads that belong on every professional bookshelf are USING POETRY ACROSS THE CURRICULUM: SECOND EDITION by Barbara Chatton (Libraries Unlimited, 2010), and two books by Sylvia M. Vardell: POETRY ALOUD HERE! SHARING POETRY WITH CHILDREN IN THE LIBRARY (ALA, 2006); POETRY PEOPLE: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO CHILDREN’S POETS (Libraries Unlimited, 2007). These three titles are among the best to bring children and poetry together.

SV: [Thanks for the plug, Lee!] Other thoughts?

Lee: Only one: A thought I’ve been thinking, something I’ve been begging for -- for over half-a-century now, since I began teaching elementary school in l960 -- Pass the poetry, please!


Thanks again to Lee for these fascinating and thoughtful responses. It really is food for thought, isn’t it?!

Image credit: 

simon&schuster;boydsmillspress;amazon;wildrosereader;

Posting by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2011. All rights reserved.

Poetry Potpourri

I thought I’d take a moment to share a pile of miscellaneous poetry news that I’ve collected recently. Just FYI…

***Paul Kelsey has created Launch Pad, an online publishing venue for young people. He writes, “We publish works selectively from young authors, and then invite young artists to illustrate our stories and poems.”

***Check out Steven Withrow’s The Feather of Memory, his first experiment in writing a short novel in verse for young adults at his blog, Crackles of Speech. He bills this work as “a time-travel science-fantasy adventure for young adults told in blank verse.” He notes that “the main narrative is written in blank verse -- unrhymed iambic pentameter -- and each installment includes an audio file of me reading the poem aloud.”

***Singer Natalie Merchant’s new album, Leave Your Sleep pairs lyrics from near-forgotten 19th-century poetry with evocative melodies delivered in her unmistakable voice. Check out a clip of her performing here. In a similar vein, folk musician Kris Delmhorst took various works from well known poets and put them to music (some of them altered slightly).

***GPR Records released Poetic License, a three-CD set that features 100 poems performed by 100 famous names. (The disc is also available on Amazon and iTunes.) Each star picked a favorite poem to read on the spoken-word compilation, including Lewis Carroll’s “The Walrus and the Carpenter” (Jason Alexander), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “The Day Is Done” (Florence Henderson), Emily Dickinson’s “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” (Kate Mulgrew), and Edward Field’s “New Yorkers” (Paige Davis). Here’s a clip of Cynthia Nixon reading “Vespers” by A.A. Milne.

***HarperCollins Children's Books has announced the fall 2011 release of a collection of never-before published Shel Silverstein poems and illustrations. Not yet titled, the book will share the same format as the late author's previous poetry collections, Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, and Falling Up. Senior executive editor Antonia Markiet is currently working with Silverstein's family to select poetry and artwork for the new collection, which she says "will contain between 120 and 130 poems, in line with Shel's previous three poetry collections."

Happy Poetry Friday!

Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2010. All rights reserved.

Image credit: theblueberrypatch.co.uk

Poetry Buzz

I’ve been running across some poetry news nuggets here and there that I thought I would gather and share here. Just FYI; just for fun.

Poetry is an app
Did you see the latest from Poets.org? It’s about a new poetry “app” for the iPhone and iPod Touch and it sounds extremely cool. (And I don't even have a fancy phone!) Here’s the lowdown:

“Poets.org is proud to announce the launch of the Poem Flow app for the iPhone and iPod Touch, developed in creative collaboration with TextTelevision... A veritable box of light with words and thought in fluid motion, Poem Flow is an entirely new way to experience poetry on a handheld screen. In Portrait view, each poem is presented in its traditional format; turned to Landscape, the poem literally flows over the screen.

Each day, a new poem becomes available to app subscribers, while those from previous days remain on the device, building the equivalent of an ever-expanding anthology of the best-loved poems in the English language. Historical trivia and contextual information, compiled by Poets.org, are provided for each daily poem.”

Poem Flow is a free download and includes 20 great poems and a full week of poem-of-the-day. Readers can subscribe to 3 months of poems (100) for $0.99, or a full year (365) for $2.99. A portion of the proceeds support the Academy of American Poets programs, including Poets.org.”

“Can Children’s Poetry Matter?”
Poet J. Patrick Lewis has published an intriguing article, “Can Children’s Poetry Matter?” in Hunger Mountain, the VCFA Journal of the Arts. It’s so provocative and beautifully written. Here’s just one nugget:

Poetry is the tunnel at the end of the light; prose, bent out of shape; the idiom of djinns; the sound of silence…amplified. Poetry predates books, predates the alphabet, and once we graduated from humming, it was the first vehicle to bring music to our ears. What are nursery rhymes if not the irresistible echoes of the siren songs of ancient whimsy?

And I loved Sue Corbin’s response, too: “Children are poetry. Their language is poetry. Their wonder of the world is poetry. If children’s poetry doesn’t matter, then children don’t matter. And sadly that’s the reality in some peoples’ worlds. Test scores matter. AYP matters.”

New Poetry Resource Book
Richie Partington has a new book out, I Second that Emotion: Sharing Children’s and Young Adult Poetry: a 21stCentury Resource Guide for Teachers and Librarians published by LC Source. It sounds terrific—and we know Richie’s reviews are always right on. Here’s the blurb on his new book:

"I Second That Emotion is an entertaining guide for teachers and librarians who want to really bring poetry to young people. The author provides a series of steps for becoming an expert on children's and young adult poetry, and a great variety of ideas on sharing poetry with young people all year long. Included are extensive appendices, including listings of books of poetry currently used in summer reading programs; an exploration of how poetry is incorporated into various states' standards; poetry resources for preschoolers; and information on over 500 American and British authors of poetry books for children and young adults."

I ran into some difficulties using the Web site, so found the 800 number more helpful. Call toll-free: 1-800-873-3043.

Guest Poet: Hope Anita Smith
The fantastic librarian Roxanne Feldman recently posted the following on one of my favorite listservs (and gave permission to share it here): "We had the great pleasure of having Hope Anita Smith (The Way a Door Closes, Keeping the Night Watch, and Mother Poems) conduct poetry workshops for our 7th and 8th grade students. The six workshops (with three different contents) were simply fabulous and inspiring. For anyone who wishes to have a generous, inspiring, and effective poetry workshop leader, definitely contact her." Roxane posted an open thank-you letter to her on her Fairrosa Cyber Library site too.

FYI: Hope has been part of my Poetry Round Up held annually at the Texas Library Association conference and was a terrific presenter, so I add my whole-hearted endorsement. I would also like to make a plug for inviting poets in general to do school visits—many enjoy them, indeed count on them, but so often schools gravitate only to fiction authors, with an occasional poet speaker during April (National Poetry Month). But poets write year round and make inspiring speakers any time! Most have web sites (see the links here on my blog) and would love to hear from you! (BTW, the line up of poets for my 2010 Poetry Round Up includes: Laura Purdie Salas, Leslie Bulion, Pat Mora, Jen Bryant, Robert Weinstock, and Douglas Florian. If you’re planning to come to San Antonio for TLA, please join us: Thursday, April 15, 2010, 10:15am. We always have a great time!

Children’s Poet Laureate
Another interesting post written by Neal Whitman at Short Poem (on Feb. 1), shared by Paula Morrow on CHILD_LIT (and posted here with permission) about the post of Children’s Poet Laureate. What a sweet compliment to Charles Ghigna (Father Goose)—who will also be presenting at the annual Fay Kaigler Children’s Literature Festival at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg April 7-9. I’ll be there, too, plugging the latest and greatest poetry for kids. It’s time again for the next Children’s Poet Laureate to be chosen, so stay tuned for that news—which should be out in October.

Knit Your Own Poem
I ran across this craziness: a “Knit Your Own Poem” link courtesy of Great Britain’s Poetry Society! You can input the words of a poem which will magically appear in individually knitted letters—way cool! Those clever Brits!

Posting (not poem) by Sylvia M. Vardell © 2010. All rights reserved.
Image credit: ala.org;poetryfoundation.org;poetrysociety,hungermountain

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