CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR? A UNIQUE POETRY COLLABORATION

     I was blessed to have met Irene Latham and Charles Waters

at a recent SCBWI event in Birmingham. When they read from their new book, Can I Touch Your Hair?

I was hooked. Such a powerful book that will be talked about for some time. It is getting good reviews and was recently featured in a 12 x 12 webinar as one of  librarian Betsy Bird's Top Twelve Books of 2018. They were gracious to answer some questions about their collaboration for readers of The GROG. (You can view an earlier post here interviewing Charles:
https://groggorg.blogspot.com/2018/03/debut-author-charles-waters.html )

     Post a comment and you will be entered in a drawing to win a free copy of their book. 

     Sherri: I think I head you say you "met" through your poetry publications, but can you tell us how you two came together for this project?

     Irene:  We knew each other and each other's poetry through Poetry Friday, which is a weekly online meetup of poetry folks sharing poetry posts and resources. We'd also been featured together in a couple of anthologies. Charles has always been kind and enthusiastic in our interactions, so when Carol Hinz suggested the book would work best as a conversation between a white poet and a black poet, and who would I like to work with,  I instantly thought of Charles.

     Sherri:  Did you pitch the idea, or did someone pitch it to you? 

     Irene:  It was actually our editor Carol Hinz's idea, and she recruited me and then I brought Charles on board.

     Sherri:  Did you meet before you started work on the book?

     Irene: We didn't meet until after the book was finished. We relied on Google Docs, Microsoft Word, emails, texts, and the occasional phone call.

     Sherri:  How did you decide on the premise of the teacher giving an assignment?

     Irene and Charles:  We thought that made the most sense of getting a shy kid and an overactive kid together to get to know each other in the hopes of them becoming friends. Also, there should be poetry projects in all of humanity once a month!

     Sherri: Tell us about the poem titles.

     Irene: We each decided those on our own, as much as I can remember. (It's possible our editor helped us tweak a few...the thing I do remember is that at one point it was suggested that maybe the poems didn't need titles at all, and Charles and I were both attached to our titles! In fact, it's hard for me to imagine calling it a poem if it doesn't have a title. (Fortunately, the publisher supported our choice.)

     Sherri:  How long did it take from start to publication?

     Charles: If I remember correctly, it was two years. However, we did get Carol a working manuscript to send to the acquisitions meeting in about three weeks.

     Sherri:  Charles, I heard you used the real name of a teacher. Can you tell us about her?

     Charles:  Becky Vandenberg was my high school teacher in English and math in 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. My first day of school at Penn Wood High in September of 1988 was her second day of school. I felt a bond with her from the beginning because we were both newbies to Penn Wood. She's taught and mentored scores of students coming up on 30 years. I used her name in our manuscript and after a series of drafts, Irene asked me where did I get the name Mrs. Vandenberg. Once I told her about Becky, she said, "Well, we're definitely keeping the name now!"

     Sherri:  What would you like to see happen with this book? I could almost see a teacher using it in the classroom with different readers.

     Irene and Charles:  We hope it sparks conversations. We don't have all the answers, except to be kind to one another. As far as teachers using the book in their classrooms, we would be honored. Teaching artist/Musician/Playwright Lacresha Berry created a Teacher's Guide that is full of ways to implement the book into one's classroom.

Teacher's Guide:
https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/b9444ae3a57c6491174b13bc2c4bfdbdd005cd.pdf

     Sherri:  Can each of you share something you learned while working on this project?

     Irene:  We were both acolytes in the Episcopal church when we were kids.
    Charles:  We both grew up one of five kids within our respective families.

     Sherri:  Are the illustrations of each of you based on fifth grade photos?

     Irene:  We did send our 5th grade pics to Sean and Selina so they'd have a starting point. We love what they did!

     Sherri: Do either of you have a favorite poem? Is there one you labored over?

     Charles: My favorite poem in the book is Irene's poem "News."

which is written with such detail and sensitivity. When I do solo author visits, I try my best to read this poem to the audience. #lathampower.


     Irene:  And I love Charles' "Officer Brassard" poem.

 It really shows how confusing and complicated humans can be. As for a poem I labored over, I don't think any went through more drafts than "Summer Reading," It was tough to hit the right note for the narrative thread, and there are still things I'd like to change about it.

     Sherri: I especially liked the art. Every page turn had something new in color, format, or design. How did you react to the illustrations?

     Charles: There may have been dancing involved for me. Thank goodness no one saw it. One of the skills I do not possess is the dancing skills of the late Fayard and Harold Nicholas or the musicianship of the late Cab Calloway.

     Sherri:  Is there another collaboration in the works?

     Irene and Charles: You never know. :-)

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     Irene Latham is the author of more than a dozen current and forthcoming books including two novels for children--Leaving Gee's Bend and Don't Feed the Boy. Winner of the 2016 Lee Bennett Hopkins Promising Poet Award, her poetry books for children include Dear Wandering Wildebeest, When the Sun Shines on Antarctica, and Fresh Delicious and Can I Touch Your Hair? (with Charles Waters). She lives in Alabama with her family where she does her best to "live her poem" every single day. Visit her online atwww.irenelatham.com.

     Charles Waters is a children's poet, actor, and author. His poems have appeared in various anthologies including Amazing Places, One Minute till Bedtime and The National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry. Charles performs his one person show, as well as conducts poetry performance and writing workshops for elementary and middle school audiences. Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendships is his first book. He lives in New York.

     


     

Debut Author CHARLES WATERS

Debut Author CHARLES WATERS
by JG Annino 

After a lifetime in entertainment,

including acting at Disney World here in Florida,

the multi-talented artist Charles Waters

ramped it up on the road earlier this year 

to share his poetry in his first children's book. It is the
phenomenally talked about 

CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR?

The co-author is well-known poet/author/children's lit. guru 
Irene Latham,
a Poetry Friday regular whose work in several genres I admire, 

especially the picture books, 

Dear Wandering Wildebeest, Fresh Delicious, When the Sun Shines on Antartica.
And now I am a fan of both of these authors, with  CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR?

The visual arts team members who add so many lovely layered nuances to                      

this story in verse

are Selina Alko and Sean Qualls, 

a well-known, accomplished couple,

who are also a multi-racial couple.

In what I think will become known as a landmark

new classic, in the poem story
CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR?

a black student named Charles,

and a white student named Irene,

who don't know each other,

work back and forth in class on

their 5th grade project. 

A poem project. A telling-your-feelings & family story project.

The two partners decide their poem subjects, such as church, school, shoes & 
as promised by the title - hair.  Each writes their own poem
in class, on the topic. (The last poem is a surprise.)                                                                                                  

Thoughts & questions of race are front and center, in a way that 

make the poems not only stand outs with pitch-perfect

writing, but also as touchstones for  

family, class & community conversations on race,  for 
thinkers & doers of all ages. Classmates pop in, as does a
famous visiting author. The book feels like a real visit to school.
I can see afterschool club leaders, scout groups, dance programs,
music, art, sports programs, all kinds of communities who work
with young people, wanting to have this by their side.
                                                                                 

I have never met Charles in person, but I feel know a lot about him
through Poetry Friday & now with 

CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR?

Debut author CHARLES WATERS

So, hi there Traveling Author.

What do your feet say to you about all this

clear across the country fancy footwork,

presenting on CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR? 

A

Hi there, Jan. My feet, which are inside shoes with rainbow shoelaces, 

(shameless promotional book tie-in) are tired yet super grateful for how 

the book is being received and for the many school visits in Seattle, 

Mercer Island, Manhattan, Grand Rapids, Birmingham 

and Tuscaloosa, so far. 

  

Care to share a few potent/funny/poignant comments or questions from

the young readers.  

A

A kindergartner asked me today during a Q & A, 

"Why are you black?" 

"I've also been asked how many poems in the book actually happened to you and Irene? to How old are you?

A great comment was made at the same school I visited today 

when a student talked about how people stare at her and her 

Mom because they both wear hijabs.  

  

Surely a powerful moment for her, because of this book.

Please share some of your favorite ideas about writing poetry

& reading poetry.

A

As for writing: Don't be afraid of making mistakes in writing,

I'm a firm believer in getting it all down on the page in all its

messy glory, 

then you can work on revisions.  When it comes to reading, I try my best
to read each poem aloud, poetry should be read and said :-) 

What take- away can you share from the process in creating this

with Irene Latham?

A

I couldn't be more grateful to Irene for her patience, kindness,                                                                       good humor and fierce friendship. Much like the characters in

the book, we became    

better friends the more we       

rewrote our poems for the book.                                              

She's given me advice about writing, the book industry,

how to better my author presentations and so much more .

What a gem of a human!   

Irene Latham with Charles Waters

Beautifully said Charles, about your book partner.

You & Irene have received many significant bookings, such as at the 

unique Poets House in New York City, an entity created by 

Poet Laureate Stanley Kunitz. Can you share an unexpected

location where you or both of you presented the book?

A

There's been no unexpected locations I can think of so far. 

I will say when I performed for Poetry Alive! years ago,                                                                                 myself and my former touring partner performed in 

someone's living room. That was ... interesting. 

Why do you think this book has caught hold so quickly & deeply?

A 

These topics in our book can be so sensitive to talk about that I

hope our book is helping people of different ages, genders and 

ethnicities feel comfortable in starting dialogue with one another. 

As a first time author, are there some steps you would have

changed along the way.

Are there practices you developed that helped.

A

I don't think I would change much. It's been vital to up my

social media presence to promote the book, as well as developing

a 56-slide Power Point Presentation to use at schools.

I have one; Irene and I created one together for our joint visits.  

I'm glad I didn't know how much work went into the power point presentations, 

booking flights and writing author contracts, among other bits of poetic business. 

Now, when my second book comes out, throwing that out to the universe, 

I'll be more prepared. 

What is your encouragement for authors who have experienced many

rejections, who are seeking hope on the horizon for publication?

A

Keep reading, keep writing, keep submitting, stay humble. 

It's the only way to go, in my opinion.

Oh, and if in fact opportunity comes knocking, 

be prepared to answer with every bit of gratefulness, talent and belief you 

have in your soul.   

What manuscript do you want to write next?

A

There are a few things I've got in the hopper that I'm excited about. 

It's too early to post what they are, however, they're in various forms of progress. 

Great - I will want those headlines when news can be shared.

Bravo! on this important book Charles. Appreciations for this visit. 

A

Thanks so much for inviting me to your poetic shindig, Jan! 

If everyone has some time, please check out me performing 

my poems from the book, 

as well as Seasons 3 and 4 of Poetry Time at my 

You Tube channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/TheCharlesWaters


This visit is a pleasure, Charles. Comments are welcome here &
it's great we can continue the conversation:

CHARLES WATERS website: https://www.charleswaterspoetry.com
IRENE LATHAM's website:

http://www.irenelatham.com/poetry_children.html

Jama Rattigan's blog for CAN I TOUCH YOU HAIR?

You are invited to this, also!