Poetry Friday: August Roundup of Books and Bookstores + Sealey Challenge Update
Susan at Chicken Spaghetti is our host for today’s Poetry Friday. Hop on over there for the roundup.
24 Bookstores in 2024
Before school started, I snuck away to Charlottesville (about 90 minutes from me) with my friend, Tracey, to get some writing done. I had tea and a visit with my Nevermores friend, Brooke.
The downtown mall in Charlottesville has several bookstores in a short walking distance. I spent several hours combing through lots of interesting used and new books. One thing about a college town in the South–there’s lots of local history books and loads of niche topics. And truly they had some of the most interesting stashes of poetry books I’ve seen on my bookstore travels this year.
28. 2nd Act Books Charlottesville, Virginia
Visited on August 2, 2024
29. New Dominion Bookshop Charlottesville, Virginia
Visited on August 2, 2024
30. Blue Whale Books Charlottesville, Virginia
Visited on August 2, 2024
31. Daedalus Books Charlottesville, Virginia
Visited on August 2, 2024
This was a super quirky bookstore. No website. No stickers. Just all kinds of good weirdness inside. You can tell it’s a college town.
Books Read in August
Outside of the Sealey Challenge, I haven’t read a whole lot. Here are a few books I read before school started.
by Julia Cameron
by Gillian Flynn
by Mosa Abu Toha
by W. S. Merwin
by Nick Laird
Sealey Challenge Update
I’ve been throwing poetry in my purse every day because it seems like every day I’ve had 15-20 minutes of waiting somewhere. So I’ve been sneaking in the poetry where I can. I’ll finish my Sealey Challenge this weekend and give a report next week.
Haiku of the Week
a flower
so mesmerizing
it stills a bee
Haiku & Photo © 2024 Marcie Flinchum Atkins
Photo Taken: June 25, 2024 at Highlights Foundation
Haiku Written: August 5, 2024
Grow
I had such an interesting conversation with my Nevermore pals this week. We talked for almost two hours about line breaks. Yes, we did! We talked about how one might use enjambment and line breaks when writing for various age groups. We mostly read some heavily enjambed poetry for adults and one YA poem. And we did an exercise in line breaks. But it made me curious how to craft line breaks, especially enjambed lines for a younger audience. If you have a good recommendation for poems with enjambed lines for the elementary age group, please share your wisdom. This is an area I’m keenly interested thanks to Rose’s fabulous lead in our discussion. Help me grow in my knowledge of enjambment for young people.
26 Comments
Irene Latham
Hi Marcie! I love the quirkiness of that college-town bookstore! I do love poetry memoirs…poets are such interesting people. And yay for learning about enjambment! I don’t think it’s employed much for children, perhaps because the use of more straightforward lines makes for a more successful reading experience for kids. I personally LOVE writing and reading enjambed lines…so many ways to impact meaning by altering where you break the line! xo
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
This is what we suspected. I do wonder if we’ll find some that use an enjambed line break for surprise. But yes, I don’t suspect it’s used much for the younger set.
Rose Cappelli
I’m always so inspired by your bookstore trips. We’re visiting my daughter in Lancaster today. While my husband installs a storm door, she suggested we visit a few book stores! Looking forward to some new finds.
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
That sounds like a great adventure! I was blown away by all that I found in this short trip.
Mary Lee Hahn
I wonder if the Daedalus catalog we get is from the storefront you visited. We often find gems to order from them.
LOVE your mesmerized (great word!) bee!
I’m on track to finish 10 books for Sealey, and I only missed one day of 30-minute poetry reading. For. The. Win.
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
I don’t think they have a catalog (they don’t have a website). I think there maybe another bigger bookstore by the same name. And YES to 30 minutes a day for poetry reading. It really does add up! 10 books is a LOT!
Susan T.
Hi, Marcie. Nice haiku! Bookstores + college towns = my kinds of places. Thanks for taking us along on your travels.
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
Thank you, Susan!
Linda Mitchell
oooooh, enjambment…that is a fascinating topic. And, using it with kids…hmmmmm. They would need to be strong readers to be able to make those leaps. The reminds me of comic book theory and white space.
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
Yes, I agree. I brought the YA poem “New Curriculum on Water” by Taylor Byas from Poemhood: Our Black Revival and I’d highly recommend for your library. It is heavily enjambed, has great voice, and is powerful.
Linda Mitchell
PS….that a bee could still a flower is such a lovely thought. Your use of language is fantastic in that haiku.
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
Oh thank you!
tanita
Aaah! Daedalus Books!! They’re my dream store – I love the catalogs from there. What a gorgeous field trip – my friend Charlotte does this in every town she visits – finds all the bookstores and spends a day just browsing. I love the name of 2nd Act Books – what a great, fun name for a used bookstore!
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
I think it’s a different bookstore–this place doesn’t have a website. But I think there is another Daedaulus that has a very robust online bookshop that I found when Googling. I think your friend Charlotte and I could be bookstore browsing buddies. 🙂
Tabatha
That Oral History of Wythe County during the 1950 polio epidemic looks fascinating. And I had to send the thesis naming idea to one of my family members. Great haiku! You are really finding lots of food for the spirit!
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
Yes, all of the bookstores had interesting local histories. I’m working on a project about another disease, but I scooped this one up because I think local history is fascinating. I used to live about an hour from Wythe County.
Linda Baie
Like Tabatha, That Oral History of Wythe County during the 1950 polio epidemic looks fascinating. I’m old enough to remember people in the streets celebrating when the vaccine was announced. And, because I work at a used bookstore, I love to read about the ones you visit, Marcie. Finally, I enlarged and looked a long while at your bee pick. They’re “mesmerizing” to me, as the flower to the bee! You’ve given us a new way to see them!
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
Yes, Wythe County is an hour from where I used to live. And I’m a big fan of local histories. These bookstores had all sorts of interesting local history stuff.
Denise Krebs
Marcie, I was captured by several things in your post today. That Kenneth Koch book–I love what I’ve read of his. That stilled bee. Oh, my goodness. What a photo and what a haiku. Beautiful. And finally, the fact that you are wanting to learn more about enjambment in children’s poetry. I love that! I can’t help you, but I want to go look for some examples in books I have around here. (If I find any good ones, I’ll pass them on.) 🙂
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
Yes, let me know if you find anything good. The Kenneth Koch book is a little battered, but it has some good stuff in it.
Margaret Simon
Mesmerized is a great word choice and then “still” a bee, giving me the perfect image. Enjambment is one of my favorite craft moves to read when it’s done well. So many verse novels do not consider it as part of the art. There are breaks for the sake of making it verse. But when it is fully considered, enjambment can be effective. I would look at masters like Naomi Shihab Nye (“A Maze Me”), Margarita Engle, and Sharon Creech. Thanks for getting me thinking.
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
Thank you for all of these wonderful suggestions.
PATRICIA FRANZ
Well of course my favorite bookstore you visited is the one with the dog water bowl outside! 🙂
And I may have stayed a LOOONGG while composing thesis titles with the magnets — that was hysterical!
And, I am going in search of WS Merwin poetry now…
And …the STILL bee (what are the chances??? — BTW — I was stung TWICE this week on two different days, both on cycling rides — one THROUGH my jacket! That bee was definitely NOT still!
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
THROUGH your jacket? OUCH! The thesis magnets were totally hilarious.
Carol Varsalona
Marcie, your travels are amazing. I love hearing about them. My son always ends up at Barnes and Noble when shopping. He loves to read which melts my heart (being a former reading specialist and administrator).
Your photo haiku is beautiful with words that remind me of a bright summer day.
Marcie Flinchum Atkins
Thank you, Carol!