Jeannine Atkins has challenged us to write a poem that uses personified feeling. For more details, click HERE.
Post your poem on our February 2017 padlet.
All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration this Friday,
February 24th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of
her latest novel-in-verse from Atheneum Books/Simon & Schuster:
Wondering what this band of bovines are curious about?
I bet Diane Mayr knows... or if not, I bet she can find out.
That's what librarians do best!
In today's post, the second in her "Ask a Librarian" series, Diane explores some terrific resources for finding inspiration. Her first post in the series, about ekphrastic poetry, can be found HERE.
Thank you, Diane, for feeding our muses and our brains!
(Would you mind feeding the cows while you're at it?)
I'm a librarian, but I'm also a writer who has done school visits. I
have never visited a school where this question wasn't asked:
"Where do
you get your ideas?"
The answer, for me at least, is everywhere! The key is to be curious--about everything! (Well, maybe not toenail fungus...)
Being a curious person, I subscribe to a number of general interest
newsletters that deliver content to my inbox. Most times I don't read
one completely, but I think it's fair to say that almost every link I
click on is a path to an article or a story or a poem waiting to be
written.
The other day, I ended up at a site on tactile paving as the result of a
newsletter. [Tactile paving is a system of "textured ground surface
indicators" found on sidewalks, train station platforms, and other areas
that assist pedestrians who are blind or visually impaired.] It was
fascinating. After reading, I couldn't help thinking about writing a
mystery where a tactile paving surface became a clue.
Atlas Obscura is a collaborative project. We depend on our far-flung
community of explorers (like you!) to help us discover amazing, hidden
spots, and share them with the world.
This week: productivity vs. creativity, amusing ourselves to death, and more...
Austin Kleon is a writer and illustrator. You may have seen his Newspaper Blackout book of found poems. He also wrote Steal Like An Artist and Show Your Work!,
both of which I have read and highly recommend! His newsletter is a
little bit of this and a little bit of that. Click here to see the 2/10/17 edition.
Like an omelet, we believe in pulling together various ingredients to
make something extraordinary. We share genuinely inspiring content to
spark action and change.
....That's our mission: to inspire you to live a more purposeful life.
Many of the newsletter items are things I have seen on social media, but
there's always something completely new to me. In one edition of the
daily email there was a link to a video about a musician. His
instrument of choice? Ice. Another link led to a video about someone who has collected snow data
for decades. There is generally something that's going to make you
grab box of tissues (I'm a firm believer in the value of a good cry),
and sometimes there's poetry.
Whether in the classroom or the courtroom, people learn from examining
evidence (primary sources) and hearing differing viewpoints, as all
those items are pulled-together in a story format. When the stories are
also interactive, as they are at AwesomeStories, learners are involved
in the process.
Written for and by teachers, the articles are meant for classroom use,
but that doesn't mean you shouldn't read them! A February Black History
Month newsletter had links to topics such as Frederick Douglass (whose name has been in the news recently).
New England Historical Society.
(Become a member it's completely free, and I have yet to receive a
solicitation for money.) There is no mission statement listed, tsk, tsk,
but the articles cover the six New England states.
"There’s an old expression in New England that if nothing seems to go
right for you, you have the luck of Hiram Smith." I learned that Hiram
Smith died in many different ways. Say what? Find out here.
Most state and regional historical societies will have a newsletter. Sign up and learn about your own neck of the woods.
Here's a curious-history-buff bonus:
If you want to give your eyes a break, there is an ongoing series of history podcasts from Stuff You Missed in History Class that are lively and fun to listen to. Glance through the archives here.
Not a history buff? Then perhaps there is another topic that interests
you? There are newsletters for practically every subject under the
sun—and the sun, moon, and stars, too!
Stay curious, my friend.
Diane Mayr is a long-time public librarian and a freelance writer. She is the author of a storyhour favorite picture book, Run, Turkey, Run!
(Walker & Co., 2007). Since 2007, she has concentrated on haiku
and other short form poems, and works to improve her graphic skills by
illustrating them. Find out more about Diane at her website.
Jeannine Atkins has challenged us to write a poem that uses personified feeling. For more details, click HERE.
Post your poem on our February 2017 padlet.
All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday,
February 24th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of
her latest novel-in-verse from Atheneum Books/Simon & Schuster:
Jeannine Atkins has challenged us to write a poem that uses personified feeling. For more details, click HERE.
Post your poem on our February 2017 padlet.
All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday,
February 24th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of
her latest novel-in-verse from Atheneum Books/Simon & Schuster:
Jeannine Atkins has challenged us to write a poem that uses personified feeling. For more details, click HERE.
Post your poem on our February 2017 padlet.
All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday,
February 24th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of
her latest novel-in-verse from Atheneum Books/Simon & Schuster:
Jeannine Atkins has challenged us to write a poem that uses personified feeling. For more details, click HERE.
Post your poem on our February 2017 padlet.
All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday,
February 24th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of
her latest novel-in-verse from Atheneum Books/Simon & Schuster:
In only seven days, we've gathered fourteen poems on our February 2017 padlet. Four of them have been posted as daily ditties: Cindy Breedlove's Concern, Sherry Howard's Fear, Linda Mitchell's Resolute, and Tabatha Yeatts's Creative Voice.
The first feeling I explored this week, Ennui, led to an unfortunate suicide (poor thing), so I decided to give Confidence a go instead.
Confidence
the elvish imp, will not be leashed like some pointy-eared pup. With a wiggle and woot, she’ll slip your grip and streak naked through the streets just as fast as her little legs can scamper.
Post your poem that uses personified feeling anytime this month. For more details about the challenge, read my interview with Jeannine Atkins HERE.
All contributions will be included in a wrap-up celebration on Friday,
February 24th, and one lucky participant will win a personalized copy of
Jeannine Atkins's latest novel-in-verse from Atheneum Books/Simon & Schuster, Stone Mirrors: The Sculpture and Silence of Edmonia Lewis.
Find this week's Poetry Friday roundup at The Logonauts. Thanks, Katie!
