Robyn Hood Black - children's author, poet, artist

NEW for 2023-24! I wrote a book of fables for Core Essentials Values! Fun & fabulous illustrations by Jonathan Maloney, with additional text/questions by Lois Brown and Leslie Bolser. To check it out and learn more about this character education program in more than 2,000 schools, click here. Cover image ©Core Essentials Values

photo by Michelle H. Barnes

Haiku Society of America

Robyn presented a session titled "Reach of a Live Oak - Haiku and Our Family Tree" at the Haiku Society of America's Spring National Meeting in St. Augustine, Florida, May 17-19, 2019. Click link above for HSA info!

***************************Selected Publications*****************************

New for Fall 2024 - WHAT IS HOPE? from Pomelo Books.

I'm honored to have my poem, "Metamorphosis," included.

Oct. 2022 - WHAT IS A FRIEND? from Pomelo Books. Poetic pondering of friendship for ages 8 & up. (Includes my poem, "Present.")

2020 - Beautiful New Anthology by DK Children - compiled by the fabulous Sylvia Vardell! (My poem, "Sincerely," is included.)

Honored to have a poem in the 25th Red Moon Anthology, jar of rain, Red Moon Press, 2021.

2020 - New from Pomelo Books! The perfect collection to keep you moving. (My poem, "Trail Ready," is included - fellow pack-rats will relate!)

J. Patrick Lewis's National Geographic anthology, the poetry of US, celebrates the 50 states and territories with 200+ poems! (Mine lauds the Mural Arts Program in Philadelphia, the nation's largest outdoor public art project.) Released Fall 2018.

Make it a GREAT MORNING! with the newest book from Pomelo Books! Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong have made it easy for anyone leading school announcements to start off the day with the perfect poem. :0) (I'm thrilled that "Sincerely" is included.) Released July 2018.

October 2017 - I'm THRILLED to have a poem in Amy Ludwig VanDerwater's new resource for teachers, Poems are Teachers - How Studying Poetry Strengthens Writing in All Genres, published by Heinemann.

Released Feb. 2018 - SCHOOL PEOPLE by Lee Bennett Hopkins! (My poem pays tribute to a cafeteria worker.)

--photo by Kim Poovey--------------------------------------------
Fellow Beaufortonian and author Kim Poovey hired me to illustrate the cover of her newest written adventure, Dickens' Mice. "Follow these long tailed friends as they lend a paw to a famous author in distress, helping him create one of the most memorable Christmas stories ever scripted." Two additional stories are included. (Click picture for more info or to purchase.) Released December 2018.

Poetry Friday Power Books from Pomelo Books! Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong of Pomelo Books have started an amazing classroom-friendly series with YOU JUST WAIT (September 2016, and selected as an NCTE Notable for 2017) and HERE WE GO (January 2017, selected as an NCTE Notable for 2018). I'm thrilled to have a poem in each one. Click on the covers to learn more about these one-of-a-kind resources! (And there's a third one in the series - PET CRAZY. You should get all three. ;0) )

LULLABY & KISSES SWEET selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, illustrated by Alyssa Nassner (Illustrator)

You can't start them off too young when it comes to poetry! I'm honored to have a poem included in this collection by Lee Bennett Hopkins for babies and toddlers, Lullaby and Kisses Sweet from Abrams. Check out my interview with LBH here!

Find Robyn's Poetry in These BooksTHE ARROW FINDS ITS MARK, Roaring Brook, 2012; THE POETRY FRIDAY ANTHOLOGY series, Pomelo Books, 2012-17, LULLABY AND KISSES SWEET, Abrams, 2015, POEMS ARE TEACHERS by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, Heinemann, 2017, and SCHOOL PEOPLE by Lee Bennett Hopkins, Wordsong, 2018, and THE POETRY OF US by J. Patrick Lewis, National Geographic, 2018.

And in these! Honored to have poems in both volumes of The Best of Today's Little Ditty (Michelle Heidenrich Barnes) and Imperfect - poems about mistakes: an anthology for middle schoolers (Tabatha Yeatts)

Robyn's haiku appear in several anthologies, including WRITE LIKE ISSA by David G. Lanoue, DUST DEVILS - the 2016 Red Moon Anthology, THEY GAVE US LIFE by Robert Epstein, and EVERY CHICKEN, COW,FISH AND FROG - Animal Rights Haiku, by Robert Epstein and Miriam Wald.

Robyn's haiku also appear in THE HELPING HAND HAIKU ANTHOLGY and THE SIGNATURE HAIKU ANTHOLOGY, both edited by Robert Epstein, 2020, and JAR OF RAIN - The Red Moon Anthology (2021), edited by Jim Kacian& The Red Moon Anthology Editorial Staff.

In addition to writing, I have an art business, artsyletters, feauturing "literary art with a vintage vibe." In my Etsy shop, I have original drawings and prints, note cards, book marks, altered page collages, typewriter key jewelry and more - a gathering of gifts for readers and writers! If you have a moment, check it out - and thanks!

Robyn's Books [SIR MIKE, Scholastic Library, 2005,2006; WOLVES, Intervisual Books, 2008]
Sadly, these are now out of print, but you can often find copies from online booksellers.

10.10 Poetry Anthology - Celebrating 10 in 10 Different Ways. Edited & compiled by Bridget Magee. Oct. 2021.

Handout for HAIKU-HOW TO - OCAF Workshop February 2021 (13.2 KB)

Some resources & links from our haiku workshop!

Some PICS from the PAST...

Many thanks to Kami Kinard (left) for the warm writerly welcome to Beaufort, SC! We are pictured here with fellow writer Katherine Tandy Brown.

YAY for getting together with writers, illustrators, editors, & kidlit peeps!

SCBWI Southern Breeze hosts some fabulous conferences, including Springmingle in Atlanta!

I was thrilled to meet Katherine Jacobs (top) editor at Roaring Brook, who worked on THE ARROW FINDS IT MARK. Also, what a treat to participate in a novel intensive with Nikki Grimes (bottom) and hear her sessions about poetry.

SCBWI Southern Breeze wik
(Writing and Illustrating for Kids) conferences in Birmingham in October are also fabulous.

I've also been fortunate to go to three Highlights Founders Workshops up near Honesdale, Pennsylvania - with the terrific Highlights folks. (Here's my blog post about one.)

Retreats are fun, too! A group of 14 spent a weekend in Birmingham, Ala., for Hester Bass's fantastic "Show Don't Tell" retreat, and Southern Breeze is always cooking up schmoozes and get-togethers. (And here's my blog post with a wee bit more about that!)

Photos - Top: with Claudia Pearson at SCBWI "Show Don't Tell" Retreat, June 2012

Bottom: with Rebecca Shoniker, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Bill Johnson, and Jacqueline Gramman (and Cindi Kennaley taking pix) at the Highlights Founders "Poetry for All" Workshop.

Meeting up with friends old and new: Stephanie Moody, EJ Stapler, Georgia Book Award winner Jody Feldman, Claudia Pearson, Paula B. Puckett, Georgia Picture Book Award winner Meghan McCarthy, and yours truly.

I enjoyed presenting a "Haiku How-To" workshop at the 43rd Annual Children's Literature Conference at the University of Georgia a few years back. What an incredible line-up of speakers, including Barbara O'Connor, Carole Boston Weatherford, and Mike Wimmer. Several of us SCBWI Southern Breezers enjoyed catching up with book award winners Barbara O'Connor and Megan McCarthy.

photo by Jo S. KittingerSCBWI Southern Breeze 20th Anniversary Springmingle: Co-Regional Advisor Claudia Pearson, editor Kristin Daly Rens, agent Mary Kole, Conference Coordinator Robyn Hood Black, editor and art director Greg Ferguson, and keynote author extraordinaire Kirby Larson

More Springmingling and More!

Our 20th Anniversary SCBWI Southern Breeze Springmingle, , which I coordinated Feb. 24-26, 2012, in Atlanta, was a blast as well!

HIGHLIGHTS FOUNDERS Advanced Illustrators Worskhop in August 2011: our first session was led by the remarkable and ever-entertaining Eric Rohman. We had to make a relief print school picture of a pig which somehow reflected our personality. This is pretty much how I felt among all the talent in that room - faculty and attendees alike!