POETRY FRIDAY: Tanka Poetry

Thank you to Diane at Random Noodling for hosting Poetry Friday this week!

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In my poetry presentations next week, I will be introducing elementary school students to different types of poetry and then they will write their own winter- or holiday-themed poems. This presentation is one of my favorites and includes poems about different December holidays and the winter season. I look forward to sharing these poems with the kids every year!

One of the types of poetry we will be exploring next week is the Japanese tanka. A tanka is similar to a haiku (but longer) and is also a poetic format that originated in Japan. Tanka poetry follows a 5/7/5/7/7 syllable format and was created to allow deeper emotional exploration than is possible within the shorter 5/7/5 syllables of haiku poetry. Below is an example of a Christmas tanka that I wrote to share with the children.

If you enjoy writing haiku (which I LOVE!), try writing a tanka poem today. It is a fun challenge and a great way to stretch your poetry-writing muscles!

I hope you are enjoying all the fun festivities that December has to offer. Have a beautiful holiday season, and Happy Writing!

POETRY FRIDAY: December Poetry and Writing with the Stars

Thanks to Mary Lee Hahn at A Year of Reading for hosting Poetry Friday this week!

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November was a banner month for me. I traveled to Indianapolis to see my boys’ high school marching band compete at Grand Nationals (I am a proud tuba and trombone mom) and I surpassed my goal of 50,000 words in this year’s NaNoWriMo!

Now I am busy preparing for holiday gatherings, church performances, and one of my favorite traditions—the December poetry workshop I do each year with local fifth graders. In our October workshop, we talked about the importance of the poetic tradition, had fun with rhyme scheme, and read lots of wonderful poetry. In just a few weeks, we will continue our discussion and I will introduce some more fun poetic formats.

One of the fun forms we discuss each year is acrostic poetry. This format has been around a looooong time; acrostic poetry was discovered during the archaeological digs at Pompeii! The most common variation of the acrostic poem has a subject spelled out vertically in the left-hand margin, with each letter serving as the beginning of a word or phrase relating to or describing the subject.

Most elementary-aged students are familiar with acrostic poetry and are confident masters of the format. But when I show the kids this acrostic poem by my friend and critique partner Derick Wilder, with both the first AND last letters of each line spelling out the subject, they are shocked and amazed:

When it is time for the kids to write their own poems at the end of our lesson, many choose to tackle this particular challenge. It’s always fun to see what they come up with!

Another kid favorite is the cinquain, which is a five-line poem that spotlights a person, place, or thing. Each line has a prescribed formula and minimal words, and follows this pattern:

Line 1: Title - 1 word (noun)

Line 2: Description - 2 words (adjectives)
Line 3: Action - 3 words (verbs)
Line 4: Feeling - 4 words (phrase)
Line 5: Title - 1 word (synonym for the first noun)

Here is a cinquain poem that I share with the kids each year (this one was written by me):

I look forward to sharing more December poetry next week!

IF YOU WRITE PICTURE BOOKS please keep reading! My talented friend and critique partner Tara Luebbe*, who has two picture books coming out this spring (SHARK NATE-O from little bee and I AM FAMOUS from Albert Whitman), is kicking off the second year of her Writing with the Stars mentorship program. Writing with the Stars is a (free) contest that will match 16 aspiring picture book writers/illustrators with 16 published professionals. Mentorships are available for authors and author/illustrators who are unpublished and unagented.

I am super excited to finally be able to share this year’s incredible list of mentors, who are volunteering their time and talents to help aspiring picture book writers. Seriously, people—it is such an OUTSTANDING list!

So, drumroll, please….the 2017 Writing with the Stars mentors are:

Andrea Loney

Alastair Heim

Stacy McAnulty

Lindsay Ward

Melissa Iwai & Denis Markell

Josh Funk

Laura Gehl

Adam Lehrhaupt

Pam Calvert

Jody Jensen Shaffer

Corey Rosen Schwartz

Annie Silvestro

Rachel Ruiz

Lori Degman

Jennifer K. Mann

Brianne Farley

For more information, visit Tara’s website here. You can also follow Tara on Twitter at @t_luebbe. Please feel free to share this with any picture book authors or author/illustrators that you know!

Have a wonderful weekend, and Happy Writing!

* Yes, I know—I have some rock star critique partners!

Celebrating NATIONAL POETRY MONTH

April is one of my favorite months because it is National Poetry Month, an entire month to celebrate POETRY! Since 1996, poets and poetry lovers around the world have participated in this annual celebration, spearheaded by the Academy of American Poets. 

One of my favorite things about National Poetry Month is the annual Poem in Your Pocket Day, which will be observed on Thursday, April 27 this year. On this day, poetry lovers are encouraged to carry a favorite poem in their pockets and share it with friends and family. I am already thinking about which poem I will choose! Here is one of my contenders, a favorite poem about spring written by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

An April Day

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

     When the warm sun, that brings
Seed-time and harvest, has returned again,
'T is sweet to visit the still wood, where springs
    The first flower of the plain.

    I love the season well,
When forest glades are teeming with bright forms,
Nor dark and many-folded clouds foretell
    The coming-on of storms.

    From the earth's loosened mould
The sapling draws its sustenance, and thrives;
Though stricken to the heart with winter's cold,
    The drooping tree revives.

    The softly-warbled song
Comes from the pleasant woods, and colored wings
Glance quick in the bright sun, that moves along
    The forest openings.

    When the bright sunset fills
The silver woods with light, the green slope throws
Its shadows in the hollows of the hills,
    And wide the upland glows.

    And when the eve is born,
In the blue lake the sky, o'er-reaching far,
Is hollowed out and the moon dips her horn,
    And twinkles many a star.

    Inverted in the tide
Stand the gray rocks, and trembling shadows throw,
And the fair trees look over, side by side,
    And see themselves below.

    Sweet April! many a thought
Is wedded unto thee, as hearts are wed;
Nor shall they fail, till, to its autumn brought,
    Life's golden fruit is shed.

Click here here for more information about this year’s National Poetry Month festivities. Happy Spring, and Happy Writing!