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Life on the Deckle Edge

Poetry Friday - New Online Antho Class from Sylvia & Janet, and a Poem from Janet Clare Fagal

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!

You might know that Sylvia Vardell and Janet S. Wong met years ago at a conference, and the Kidlit Poetry World has never been the same since.  ;0)  Their publishing enterprise Pomelo Books has produced many wonderful poetry anthologies for kids in the last decade, all classroom-friendly, too.  Several of us Poetry Friday folks are privileged to have poems in them, along with dozens of other poets. 

 

Sylvia just retired from a 30-year career teaching children's literature (and teaching teachers) at Texas Woman's University, and she has been a valued member of several important committees across a variety of literacy organizations.  She's also trekked across the world getting good books into the hands of kids, donning her signature one-of-a-kind outfits featuring poetry themes! She's continuing poetry-centric endeavors in her new adventures. 

 

Janet is the 2021 NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children winner, with 21 books to her credit BEFORE she started co-producing anthologies.  Her A SUITCASE OF SEAWEED was released again a couple of years ago as A SUITCASE OF SEAWEED AND MORE, and that version of the suitcase became stuffed with several prestigious awards! She came to the kidlit world after practicing law, and has also volunteered with many literacy organizations.  

 

One group Janet and Sylvia are both involved with is IBBY (International Board on Books For Young People). Proceeds from their latest series of books go to the IBBY Children in Crisis Fund, which connects vulnerable children in several countries with literacy programs.

 

What is their latest series of books, you ask?  It's a group of anthologies with fantastic poems accompanying photographs of kids, and these have grown from the soil of anthhology workshops this Dynamic Poetry Duo started offering last year.  The classes are called Antho 101, 201, 301 and 401.  I've been enjoying reading lots of Poetry Friday posts about them, and was lamenting that I couldn't make the schedule happen when the workshops first emerged.  

 

But, lo and behold, this summer, when they offered Antho 401 (poetry targeted for ages 8 & up), I WAS able to join in.  I've enjoyed watching the videos and writing submissions for the book attached to this class, and helping to evaluate other poems for consideration.  Sylvia and Janet generously put participants through ALL the paces of creating and anthology - and let us peek in on their own spirited discussions of which pictures to select and why, etc., etc. I am looking forward to the live, online class gathering in a few weeks.

 

AND... they are offering Antho 201 (poetry targetd to very young readers) AGAIN this fall!  It includes recorded sessions, a live class, and a new book to be created! I'm signing up for this reprise, too, since I missed it before. 

 

Here's the scoop with an overview of the workshops and dates and registration info:

 

https://pomelobooks.com/anthologies-101

 

and here's a blog post from earlier in the year with some more information about this workshop series:

 

http://poetryforchildren.blogspot.com/2022/02/learning-about-poetry-anthologies.html

 

The published books in this series (so far!) include these collections for younger readers: THINGS WE DO, THINGS WE EAT, and THINGS WE FEEL.  

 

Here's a taste from THINGS WE DO - a delightful poem by one of our Poetry Friday friends that stole my heart, as I'm still basking in becoming a grandmother earlier this summer. (Each poem in this book corresponds to a letter of the alphabet - this one is for 'W'.)

 

WAVE

 

by Janet Clare Fagal

 

When we leave Grandma's,

she stands in the yard.

 

We get in our car.

I wave really hard.

 

Her smile is the sun.

My wave is the sky.

 

I wave from my window

for one more goodbye.

 

©Janet Clare Fagal.  Posted with permission.

 

Thanks to Janet for letting me share this poem today!  The new wee bairn in our family, Sawyer, is not quite waving yet.  BUT, this week, he started grabbing the dangling toys from his playmat as he lays beneath them!  (I require daily photos and/or videos from Morgan between visits.) And he's just twelve weeks old.  Of course, he already love rhymes and songs....

 

Many thanks also to Tanita for hosting the Poetry Friday Roundup this week over at {fiction, instead of lies}.  And unending thanks to Janet and Sylvia, who continue to share so much poetry light in the world.

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Poetry Friday - Go See Dave - and Castles!

Oops - Friday rolled around again.  How did that happen? ;0) We are squeezing in a wee visit with the wee bairn for this weekend, and I didn't get a post conjured up.  But go see Dave at Leap of Dave for the Roundup; he's hosting for the first time.  Thanks, Dave! (And, he has castles!)

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Poetry Friday - Sing Along to the "Cuckoo's Song" ....

This lovely cuckoo is not quite the right variety for England, but a lovely rendering from 1827.  
Color engraving by R. Havell, after drawing by John J. Audubon. (Library of Congress)

 

 

Greetings, Poetry Lovers!

 

Back again, after dipping in and out this summer, and after my couple-of-months hiatus in May and June around the birth of our first (amazing – wonderful – thriving) grandchild, Sawyer.

 

For Poetry Friday inspiration at the start of a new school year, I picked up one of my books that I likely  bought thinking I'd cannibalize for artsyletters projects, but that upon inspection went straight to my personal collection of treasured old books.  It's a gilded-edged 1906 copy of The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900, edited by A. T. Quiller-Couch.

 

Are you a fan of Medieval literature?  I enjoyed a class on the subject way back in college, with one of my favorite professors.  It's a long, fascinating time period.  (Of course, with a birth name of 'Robyn Hood,' I was pretty much assured of some medieval curiosity!) Such a mix of breathtaking poetry, legends, chivalry, illuminated manuscripts – and, fleas, persecution, pestilence, lice, and the like… nice to visit from a historical distance.

 

Anyway, our Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch opened his Oxford collection with the following 13th century verses.  While the piece heralds the arrival of summer, I'm taking some August liberties and sharing it now.  (Still feels very much like summer here!)

 

 

Cuckoo Song

 

c. 1250

 

Sumer is icumen in,

   Lhude sing cuccu!

Groweth sed, and bloweth med,

  And springth the wude nu –

      Sing cuccu!

 

Awe bleteth after lomb,

        Llouth after calve cu ;

Bulluc serteth, bucke verteth,

        Murie sing cucu!

 

Cuccu, cuccu, well singes thu, cuccu ;

Nu swike thu naver nu ;

 

Sing cuccu, nu, sing cuccu,

  Sing cuccu, sing cuccu, nu !

 

lhude=loud,    awe=ewe,    lhouth=loweth,     sterteth=leaps,    swike=cease

 

These old verses can be difficult to parse, I know. Sometimes just saying them out loud phonetically will open the doors of meaning.

 

"Cuckoo Song" is actually meant to be sung in a round.  In Tabatha fashion, let me share this link for you to enjoy it on a whole 'nuther level (scroll down)!  (And – I was happy to stumble upon this site, Luminarium.  Oh, I could meander along its hedgerows for days… maybe I'll see you there?) ;0) 

 

Speaking of Olde British Thinges, if you have an Ancestry account and haven't checked in lately, the DNA data just keeps getting more interesting!  (I am ALL British/Scottish/Welsh/Irish with some Dutch and un peu francais.)  I ended up checking in with the old family tree online again and marvelling that one of the first branches I ever followed back went (possibly) all the way to 12th Century Scotland.  Fun to think about the verses and songs floating in the misty air back then. I've not had that luck with any other lines, though several do go back centuries. 

 

Anyway, looks like some of our posts this week have Scottish connections; can't wait to dive in!  I've just barely had a chance to shout out to Jone since her return from Scotland and Ireland, but we plan to do some catching up soon.

 

Happy New School Year, Happy Old English Celebration of Songbirds!

 

Our marvelous Margaret has this week's Roundup over at Reflections on the Teche.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Margaret!:0)

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Poetry Friday - Swing on over to Molly's for the Roundup!

Howdy, Friends - I'm still doing some summer in-and-out-of-towning, and trying to catch some of the online SCBWI conference this weekend, so I did not get a post wrangled up for this week.  But I did get some poetry submitted here and there, so that's a start.  Please enjoy all the goings-on over at Nix the Comfort Zone, where the marvelous Molly has our Roundup!

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