Poetry Friday

Poetry Friday: Poetry + Research

 
Tanita S. Davis is our host for this week. Hop on over there for the roundup. 
 

Poetry + Research

 
Last weekend, I got to do two different writerly events. On Friday night, I was a guest reader at a “Reading Under the Stars” event at a local elementary school. I read from THINGS WE FEEL. Kids got to choose emojis and I read the corresponding poems.
 
 
Afterwards, I handed out poetry postcards and poems for their pockets. It was a great way to bounce back after last week’s poetry rejection and review.
 
On Saturday, I attended a research event at the Library of Virginia. I’m the nonfiction event coordinator for our local SCBWI region. In the past (pre-pandemic), we did several in person events where we learned about doing research at various places like the Library of Congress, the National Archives, and the Smithsonian Libraries.
 
For my next project, I did a lot of research this past summer at the Library of Virginia in Richmond, our state capital, so I organized a tour for us. They did a brief overview of the collections (online and physical), a fabulous tour of their Indigenous Perspectives exhibit. It was both beautiful (their art and culture) and horrific (the history our Virginia Indians have suffered), as you can likely imagine. We also got to take a tour of the library space. I love being with other writers and hearing what others are researching or working on. It’s such a solitary job sometimes that it’s amazing to hear about what everyone else is doing in their little cubby holes of writing.
 

Haiku of the Week

 
winter’s gift—
tiny cups of sherbet
hum of bees
 
Photo Taken: February 4, 2024 Green Spring Gardens
Haiku Written: March 4, 2024
 
 
 

Poem as Picture Book

by Nina Laden
Illustrated by Sawyer Cloud
Roaring Brook Press, 2024
 

This 130-word picture book that uses the metaphor or seeds to help readers know how they can make the world a better place. It has connections to Social-Emotional Learning.

Poetry Connections

  • Metaphor
  • Rhyming
  • Repetition
  • Anaphora
  • Alliteration

Links

 
 

Grow 

 
Right after I got a rough review of a poem last week, I had the above-mentioned event scheduled where I had promised to do an interactive poetry reading. I put on my “Poetry is My Jam” t-shirt and celebrated some poetry with kids. It’s a mood booster to share poems with kids, that’s for sure. 
 
 

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