Poetry Friday

Poetry Friday: February’s Books and Bookstore Roundup

February 23, 2024 /
This week’s host for Poetry Friday is Tabatha Yeatts at “The Opposite of Indifference.” Hop on over there for the roundup. 
 

Trip to New York

Last week, I didn’t want to clutter my cover reveal post with lots of other news, so you will get your news dump here!
 
A couple of weeks ago, I went to the New York SCBWI Conference. To my great delight, the first keynote speaker was a poet–the UK children’s laureate Joseph Coehlo. I had recently run across his new book POETRY PROMPTS and really enjoyed it.
 
He talked about many things that pertain to all writers–not just poets. He said, “Creativity feeds on being used and shared.”
 
He also talked about how we have the power over our own work. “There are no gatekeepers except for those you give keys and chains to.”
 
His website is full of great stuff–especially if you work with kids on poetry. I was able to implement one of his ideas about a one word poem with students right away. 
 
Besides the conference, I also spent some time doing New York stuff like eating the best gluten free bagels at Modern Bread and Bagel, eating the best gluten free wood-fired pizza at PizzArte, and having Hainanese Chicken Rice at Urban Hawker (an indoor version of SE Asian Hawker stalls).
 
 
 
 
 
I also go to attend a live taping of Stephen Colbert. They taped for Thursday night, but we also got to tape ahead for future shows. I saw Ryan Gosling knight Stephen Colbert into the Kendom. And we all went wild when one of the surprise guests was Billy Joel! 
 
 
 
My favorite thing I did (and I would do again in a heartbeat) is see Hadestown on Broadway.  Before I went to the show, I brushed up on my Greek Mythology–specifically I reread the tales of Orpheus and Eurydice, Hades and Persephone, and Hermes. It was the first night that Ani DiFranco played Persephone. In the audience was creator Anais Mitchell. The audience was pumped, and it was such an amazing show. I immediately bought the audiobook version of Working on a Song: The Lyrics of Hadestown. Mitchell reads (and sings) on the audio and she explains her process as this show went from a local show in Vermont to other performances in Canada and London before landing on Broadway. She explains how it changed over the course of more than a decade. I don’t write songs, but I really appreciate the walk through a project and how it can change over time, and how you have to think about story and poetic/lyrical/musical craft at the same time.
 
 
 
I also visited the Cooper Hewitt museum and saw “An Atlas of Es Devlin” exhibit. One of the things that she says when talking about her installations is “each audience is a temporary society.” I found that fascinating, especially in light of being with different groups of people–audiences–while watching shows and attending the conference. I even wrote my Nevermores poem about that last week.
 
 

24 Bookstores in 2024: February Report

 
For my January roundup, click here. 
 
Not every bookstore had stickers, so I didn’t get very many stickers this time. And I’m still on the search for a cool vintage suitcase (many thanks to Irene for the great idea).
 

3. Kramers Bookstore, Washington, DC

Visited January 27, 2024
 
 
 

4. Birchtree Bookstore, Leesburg, Virginia

Visited February 3, 2024
 
This bookstore is a plant store and a bookstore all in one! 
 
 
 

5. New York Historical Society, NYC

Visited February 8, 2024
 

6. Strand Bookstore, Upper East Side, NYC

Visited February 8, 2024
This is not the flagship store, but it was just a few doors down from the bagel shop I visited, so it was a matter of convenience.
 
 
 

7. Books of Wonder, NYC

Visited February 9, 2024
 
 

8. Kinokuniya, NYC

Visited February 9, 2024
 
I visit this Japanese bookstore every time I’m in New York mainly because of the stationary store in the basement.
 
 

9. Corner Bookstore 

Visited February 9, 2024
 
 
If
If you’re wondering about the weight of my luggage on the way back from NY, yes, it was much heavier going home. 
 

Haiku of the Week

 
overnight storm—
leftover tulip blossoms
become snow goblets
 
Photo Taken: January 19, 2024, by our creek
Haiku Written: February 2, 2024
 
 

What I’ve Been Reading

When I was taking Julie Falatko’s class The Map to Inspiration, she recommended an article about reading the same poem every day for a month. I chose to read “My Mother’s Colander” by Dorianne Laux.  I’d read the poem before, and then we revisited it in a class on object poems I took with Georgia Heard and Rebecca Kai Dotlich. It was the first poem that came to mind when I thought of one I’d like to read every day for a month.
 
 
by Jim Harrison and Ted Kooser
 
by Clint Smith
 
If you are a poet interested in using apostrophe in your poetry, this has many great examples of it. I listened to a great interview with Krista Tippett from On Being. It’s worth a listen.
 
by Kirsten W. Larson
 
If you are working on a nonfiction picture book, I highly recommend this craft book. It’s full of lots of great exercises to study mentor texts and work on your own book.
 
 
by Jeff Tweedy
I recommend this one on audio because he reads it and also sings on it.
 
 
 
 
 
by Anais Mitchell
I also recommend this one on audio because she reads and sings on it.
 
by Ariel Aberg-Riger
 
This is an interesting history that makes use of collage as a key part of the storytelling.
 
 
 
by Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin
 
This is poetry mixed with art.
 
 

Grow

How did I grow/stretch myself this week?
 
At the end of Julie Falatko’s class, one of the participants mentioned that she was trying to think about her debut year by answering this question: “What would make my debut year successful?”
 
There’s so much in the publishing industry that is out of our control. This week I journaled about this question: “What would make my debut year a success?” It’s not my first book, but it’s my first novel, and my debut YA. It’s also been a few years since my last book came out. It’s a shift in perspective to not consider reviews, conferences, and lists as success. They can be markers of success, but they are mostly out of the author’s control. So I’m shifting my thinking.

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