october inklings challenge and introducing...WHAT IS A FRIEND?

 Happy first Friday of October, poetry friends, and welcome to the virtual book birthday party of WHAT IS A FRIEND?, the next title in Pomelo Books's series of what might be called apprentice anthologies. Featuring the work of both well-known and emerging poets now writing for kids, this anthology (like THINGS WE EAT, THINGS WE DO and THINGS WE FEEL) is a collaboration. These books have grown out of the publishing workshops led by editors Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell with poets learning the ins and outs of building an anthology from scratch.  WHAT IS A FRIEND? is for an older audience, ages 8 and up, and is not alphabetical but ranges through a wide interpretation of friendship. As if that's not enough goodness, 100% of the profits from this book will be donated to the IBBY Children in Crisis Fund (IBBY.org). I'm delighted to be a part of it!  Get your copy here! 

 Participating poets selected from a collection of photos sourced through Canva and wrote to friendship themes of their choice.  I love writing to an image, especially the challenge of making sure that the poem speaks to the image, if the two are presented side by side--but can also stand alone if presented without the image. I actually had this theme in mind and searched the available photos to find one that would lend itself to "Myself," and although I submitted two other poems for two other photos, this was the one that Janet selected.

 

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And now, onto the monthly challenge for the Inklings critique group!  Do you do the daily Wordle puzzle?  It's mind-blowing how fast that became a habit for so many people!  Set by the devious but also very supportive Mary Lee, we are writing Wordy 30 Poems. A Wordy 30 is a poem using exactly 30 letters. Each line should have the same number of letters. Each line should use one word. You might have 6 lines with 5 letters in each line (like Wordle), or 5 x 6, 3 x 10, 10 x 3, 15 x 2, 2 x 15, 30 x 1, or (most unlikely) 1 x 30. She suggested that we "Have…fun???"

I did, but I can't say I spent a ton of time on this one.  Let me know if it shows! In fact, I think that's the title--"Does it show?"

 

 

Check out the Wordy 30s of the rest of the gang here...

Catherine at Reading to the Core

Mary Lee Hahn @ A(nother) Year of Reading 

Molly Hogan @ Nix the Comfort Zone 

Linda Mitchell @ A Word Edgewise 

Margaret Simon @ Reflections on the Teche

And thanks to our host this week, Sarah Grace Tuttle, who's brilliantly and valiantly unveiling the mysteries of writing in meter...and now I must Engage My Network!  

If you know a college applicant who needs essay coaching and could work well on Zoom, please mention me! College essay coaching is one of the 4 items on my menu as the principal at WHISPERshout Writing Workshop, along with creative writing coaching for ages 4-8, early literacy tutoring, and small-group integrated arts enrichment classes. Most of those are best done in person, but essay coaching could work remotely. Here's my new website (not yet optimized for phone viewing).