PoemCity, Madness!Poetry and More for Poetry Month ~ by Christy Mihaly

Happy National Poetry Month! 

It's April! Time to celebrate poetry. 

Are you looking for Poetry Month ideas? I've surveyed some poets and rounded up a few suggestions (with many links for more resources). 

Feel free to share other ideas in the comments. And be poetic! ❤

PoemCity Reading 2023

PoemCity 

I am feeling very fortunate that Vermont's state capital, Montpelier, is hosting its annual "PoemCity." It's an April-long shindig organized and run by volunteers and the hard-working staff of Kellogg-Hubbard Library. Poets from around Vermont are invited to submit poems. Selected works are printed and posted in shops, restaurants, and other establishments around town. These poems will also be compiled into a PoemCity anthology. (I'm happy that my poem, "Who Cooks for You?" -- about a barred owl -- appears in the Capital Kitchen cooking supply store.)

Shop window poetry

Second grade haiku -- can't beat it!
"Brazil nuts irk me.
All they do is take up space,
and they taste like dirt."
 

Work by local students appears in a special display, always a highlight. (Check out that Brazil nut haiku!) 

PoemCity also offers free events, including readings, lectures, workshops, craft projects, ekphrasis (using artworks to inspire poetry in an improvisational collaboration), and  parties. 

Poetic paradise!

Montpelier's beloved Kellogg-Hubbard Library

Madness! Poetry

If you can't make it to Montpelier, you can still join in the fun at Madness! Poetry. This online poetry tournament, created by poet Ed DeCaria, is a wild competition modeled after March Madness. "Kids' poetry under pressure!"

Brackets begin with 64 poets ... er ... "authletes." Each pair of competitors is assigned a word, and each individual must write and post an original poem for children, using the word, by a posted deadline in 48 hours or so. When the poems are posted, readers review them and cast their votes to determine which poet will move to the next bracket and repeat the process with a new word. See this year's schedule, here. Special programs encourage teachers and classes to participate. Sign up, as an authlete, a class, or a voter, here.

I can attest from experience that being an authlete is a bit of a sleepless ordeal, but, in the end, a great deal of fun. Anyone who appreciates poetry can sign up to read, vote, and cheer the competitors to greatness. This year, the application deadline is April 16, so there's still time. 

Poets Doing Madness! and Other Things

I asked a few compatriots at the Poets' Garage how they plan to celebrate this month. I'm happy to introduce them here (look out for their poems and books!), and share their thoughts:

Children's poet Kelly Conroy says she is going for the Madness! -- "I'll be consumed with all things Madness! Poetry: reading, critiquing, encouraging, commenting, voting, and possibly competing...eek! It's fast paced, it's for kids, and it is so much fun!" Mad good luck to you, Kelly!

Kelly's poems have appeared in two wonderful anthologies published by Wee Words for Wee Ones, 10.10 and Two Truths and a Fib; three anthologies --Things We Eat, Things We Feel, and What is a Friend? -- by Pomelo Books; and in online publications Better Than Starbucks and Poetry As Promised. We'll be watching for Kelly's poems, this month and beyond!

Poet and novelist Helen Kemp Zax, who recently completed writing a YA novel in verse, says: "I found the experience of writing in this form so satisfying, I’m planning to rewrite another of my novels during April in verse form. My writing days will look like NaNoWriMo but filled with poetry. Of course, I’ll be writing shorter poems to submit to blogs, magazines, and anthologies." Best wishes with the new novel, Helen!

Her poem “Wish” will be published this month in the Sylvia Vardell/Janet Wong anthology What Is a Family? Helen says, "I plan to support this anthology in April by taking part in Rochelle Melander’s 'Play with Poetry' blog posts. As always, I’ll share copies of this anthology with Reading is Fundamental." 

"Basant Panchami" by Helen Zax,
art by Nayantara Surendranath
CRICKET Magazine, April 2020
 

Helen is co-winner of the 2021 YorkMix International Children’s Poetry Prize, 2018 MG Katherine Paterson Prize winner, and 2019 Finalist. Her poetry appears in anthologies including Imperfect II, chasing clouds, and What is a Friend? and in magazines including Cricket, Hello, High Five, Launchpad, Touchdown, Hunger Mountain, The Caterpillar, and The Dirigible Balloon. She is particularly proud that her poem “Belly Butterflies” was chosen for a Poetry Teaching Programme anthology to be published by Oxford University Press. Helen lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband, and Aussiedoodle Huckleberry Finn. 

Children’s author and award-winning poet B.J. Lee say she plans to "celebrate National Poetry Month by doing a blog post(s) with one or more of my poems to [Sylvia Vardell's] Poetry Friday, and sharing to social media." Thanks, B.J.-- and all the Poetry Friday poets! 

B.J. has published poems with Macmillan, National Geographic, Little Brown, Bloomsbury, Penguin, Wordsong, Otter-Barry, Pomelo, Cricket, Highlights, and others. Her latest poem to be included in an anthology is “Box Turtle: Pet for a Day,” in Blessings for Pets, edited by the late Lee Bennett Hopkins and due out from Eerdmans next spring. 

B.J. has also published a picture book,There Was an Old Gator Who Swallowed a Moth (Pelican Publishing, 2019). She is now hard at work on a YA verse novel. View B.J.'s poetry performances at her website here.

And finally, for Suzy Levinson, a talented New York-based children's author and poet, April means welcoming spring. She says, "One of my favorite things about Poetry Month is it coincides with Awesome Weather Month (aka April), when trees are blossoming, birds are chirping, and New York City looks halfway decent. I like to go on a lot of walks around my neighborhood and take it all in, finding inspiration for new poems wherever I look." Yay for Springtime strolls!

Also this April: Suzy is celebrating her debut picture book, Animals in Pants (Cameron Kids/Abrams, illus. by Kristen and Kevin Howdeshell). It is a collection of silly poems about -- you guessed it -- animals wearing pants! It hits shelves April 11 -- check out this amazing cover.

Suzy's poems have appeared in such magazines as Highlights, Cricket, and the School Magazine, and poetry anthologies A World Full of Poems (DK Children), I Am a Jigsaw (Bloomsbury), and Shaping the World (Macmillan). 

A very Happy Poetry Month, Suzy!

And Happy Poetry Month to all! May you find poetry all around you, this month and always.

An Explorer's Mindset ~ Guest Post by Susan Koch

“We teach kids about the world and how it works, empowering them to succeed and to make it a better place.”  

Public Domain Pictures.net

That's the mission of the National Geographic Society's Educator Certification Program, which provides a learning framework and resources to help K-12 teachers inspire “the next generation of explorers, conservationists, and global citizens.”

Last month, in GROG's back-to-school post, Christy Mihaly interviewed me about my expedition to the Arctic as a participant in National Geographic's Grosvenor Teacher Fellow Program. Applicants for the Grosvenor program need to be National Geographic Certified Educators, and we promised to come back this month and explain more about the certification program. So here goes.

Enjoying outdoor education

The National Geographic teacher certification program uses a learning framework with three elements: Attitudes, Skills and Knowledge. The program trains teachers new techniques to get students excited while learning about geography and nature. I loved the idea as soon as I heard about it, because I'm passionate about getting students outdoors for learning. I am most excited when my students can explore, inquire, and make discoveries about their world.

First grade ECO explorers

Almost ten years ago, I helped developed an outdoor education program in my community of Montpelier, Vermont. This ECO (Educating Children Outdoors) program has become a school-wide opportunity for learners to develop a sense of place by interacting with the natural environment. 

In applying to be a Grosvenor Fellow, I submitted a video about my work with the ECO program. The application required a statement about my passion, and I decided I would need to go outside to tell the story. I bundled up with a down jacket and a hat, cleared some snow from the back deck, propped up my laptop and turned to the camera. 

To watch my video about ECO, click this link

In ECO, classes spend time weekly at outdoor learning sites, to explore, inquire and make connections. Learning outside in nature helps us to create a community that values earth stewardship and sustainability. The National Geographic certification program is so appealing because it helps teachers foster this kind of learning. 

Here are the elements of the National Geographic educator framework.

ATTITUDES: The program seeks to create students who are 

Heading out for ECO

Curious: excited about new challenges and adventures.

Responsible: respectful of differences and concerned with the welfare of others.

Empowered: willing and able to work to make a difference.

ECO students observing and recording

SKILLS: The program helps students develop their abilities to

Observe: see and make sense of their observations.

Communicate: tell stories! (through spoken or written words, video, songs, and more)

Collaborate: work together to achieve their goals. 




KNOWLEDGE: The program focuses on three subject areas:

What's this find, in a Vermont forest?

The Human Journey: where we are, where we're going.

Our Changing Planet: the earth and the interconnected life forms it sustains.

Wildlife and Wild Places: far-off and in our own backyard.

Educators in the certification program complete classroom activities based on this framework. They also present a capstone project in video form, using the framework to tell the story of their students' learning. 

ECO is all year round!

National Geographic believes that telling stories is an effective way to convey our knowledge -- and listening to stories is a great way to learn. The program helps educators discover their own stories. Often learners don't believe they have stories to tell; educators can help them discover their own stories. 

A recent favorite picture book develops this idea beautifully: Everywhere, Wonder, by Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr. 

With poetic language and beautiful illustrations, the book makes the point that each person's story is made of all the things they notice and imagine. It urges readers to "open your eyes and open your window and let your story out into the world." What better summary of how our stories are shaped by our world.

If you have questions about the National Geographic program, feel free to ask me in the comment section below!

Let's Play! ~ Christy Mihaly

By Jlbirman1 (Own work)
[CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

Writing is my job—it's how I make a living. I love it, but sometimes it's a tough slog: a deadline looms, a beloved manuscript isn’t selling, and words bog down and refuse to sing. Ugh.

As the weather warms, it's a good time to remember an important part of the work of writing that we don't always honor: PLAY. 

Earlier this month I had the great pleasure of hanging out with a bunch of artists for a week. Watching the visual artists at work was a powerful reminder that play is central to the creative process.

The lucky participants in Vermont Artists Week,
Vermont Studio Center, May 2017

View from my studio window:
the VSC's Red Mill, on the Gihon River,
Johnson, Vermont

The event was a week-long residency at the Vermont Studio Center, on the Gihon River in Johnson, Vermont. VSC offers full-month residencies to artists and writers from around the world . . . but each spring they reserve one week for Vermont artists and writers. What a gift!

I'd submitted my work in January and then held my breath for a month. I was thrilled to hear in February that I was accepted for Vermont Artists Week. Finally, at the beginning of May, from the far corners of this small state, we assembled: eighteen writers (poets, novelists, memoirists, nonfiction writers) and 30+ visual artists (painters, sculptors, printers, photographers). Among these were several who writer and/or illustrate kids' books! The very air was abuzz with creativity.

But—my point about the playing: 

Artist at easel, by the river -- plein air painting

As I visited the artists' studios and admired the art that these folks had created, I was struck to hear them all describe what they'd done at VSC as “playing.” A woman who usually works with metal had used the week to play with cloth. A sculptor who works in wood or stone was playing with clay. Someone else was experimenting with a new way to compose her collages. Another was trying out new materials and playing with new combinations of colors.

They all were having tons of fun. 

My writing studio for the week.
(Yes, it has a view of the river)

Over in the writers' studios, we writers were soaking up the atmosphere, taking advantage of all that VSC offers . . . and working hard. Among the writers, I sensed higher levels of angst than I'd seen in the art studios. Like many of the writers, I'd  arrived with a long “To Do” list, and didn't want to waste a moment of precious writing time. 

Halfway through a week of intense work, though, my brain seized up. I was stuck on a balky manuscript. Of course, stops and starts can all be part of the writing process, but . . . I could see that those playful artists were on to something good. I started thinking about ways I could bring more play into my writing life. 

Here are a few ideas I collected:

Write a poem. It could be a little ditty about anything, just for fun. A silly rhyme! A haiku! Or, you could try a poem focused on a work in progress, perhaps free verse from your main character's point of view. 

The writers' version of playing:
a manual typewriter in the common area was
an invitation to type out random thoughts and notes

Write in a new genre. If you're a nonfiction writer, experiment with a short story. If you're a novel writer, try a first-person magazine article. Play around with it!

Play with point of view. 
Consider writing a page or a chapter of your story from a different POV. 

Sculpture of branches and feathers,
by Sabine Likhite 

Appreciate art. Just breathing the air of the art studios was enough to get some creative juices flowing. Try closing your eyes, and picture what you're writing about. How would you re-create your subject with paints or clay or wax or fabric? Does that give you new inspiration to paint with your words?

Eve at Journey's End

Of course sometimes, the working writer needs to get up out of the chair and find some fun elsewhere! How about these options?

Walk! Walking is an important part of the writing process for me. In Johnson, I enjoyed a woodsy walk to Journey's End falls with artist friend Eve Jacobs-Carnahan. 

Fairy House

We admired the waterfall, and then, thanks to Eve and her artist's eye, we also appreciated some unexpected creations left by prior hikers: fairy houses and gnome homes hidden in the underbrush. Some artistic souls had engaged in play that elves could be thankful for.

Ebenezer Book is awesome
(and not just because they carry my books!)

Visit your local bookstore, and read something fun! I visited (several times) the town of Johnson's outstanding local shop, Ebenezer Books. Along with a reference work for a nonfiction work-in-progress, I bought volumes of poetry and funny picture books -- that's some great play for a kids' writer!

Buy an artist (or a writer) a drink, and share some stories. Writers don't often get opportunities to compare notes with one another, and with artists, so if the chance presents itself, say yes! One of the joys of Vermont Artists’ Week was meeting so many neighbors (of both the writerly and artistic persuasions) and sharing stories of our work and our lives (and all the people we knew in common), and expanding our circles of creative colleagues. If that's not fun, what is?

So, if the grind gets you down, remember to play with your work! Try new things, notice the unexpected, and enjoy the journey.  Happy writing!

Covered bridge in the rain, Johnson.
Because, Vermont.