Announcing my 2018 ARTSPEAK! Theme (and Some Other Stuff, Too!)

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday on this the eve of National Poetry Month! Be sure to visit Heidi at my juicy little universe for Roundup, where you can learn some interesting things about our Progressive Poem tradition! I'm excited to read Liz's first line Sunday! (Yes, it will be a surprise to me as well!)

I know so many of you have celebratory things planned for the month... I'm so grateful for Jama's roundup post of National Poetry Month happenings!

Here I'll be continuing my ARTSPEAK! tradition of writing poems inspired by art. The fancy word for this is "ekphrasis" or "ekphrastic" poems, but I do NOT like the way that word tastes AT ALL! So 'round here, I'll just call them "art poems." :)

I mentioned in this post how I've been inspired by ONE LITTLE WORD by Nikki Grimes. No, I haven't written a single Golden Shovel poem. But reading that book totally made me want to learn about art from the Harlem Renaissance! I realized I knew something about the musicians and poets/writers from that time, but nothing about a single visual artist. And so, in order to remedy that, I give you.... ARTSPEAK! Harlem Renaissance.

The cover image is "Lift Up Thy Voice and Sing" by William H. Johnson. Don't you love it? I've selected works by Aaron Douglas, Meta Warrick Fuller, Palmer Hayden, William H. Johnson, Archibald Motley and James Van Der Zee. I'll be learning more about these artists as I go, and about art's place in the Harlem Renaissance as well. My goal is to create poems that embody the spirit of the Harlem Renaissance: creativity, reawakening, change, vitality, unity, dreams... I'm excited to find out what these pieces of art will say to me.

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On the topic of art poems, I am also excited to share with you WORLD MAKE WAY: New Poems Inspired by Art from The Metropolitan Museum of Art edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins, brought to us by Abrams. I am in love with this book! And not just because I have a poem in it. :) The words and art are breathtaking... I sent a note right away to Lee to tell him this is a book I will read and read again... truly the mark of a good book. It really deserves its own post, but I won't be able to during April, so I will leave you with a look at my contribution. Please do find this book! It's gorgeous!

Painted Plaster Pavement Fragment,
ca. 1390-1353 BC, Anonymous

This Is the Hour

This is the hour

the sun dreams,

and the river 

sings 

its silky song.

This is the hour

Duck wades 

into the warm,

whispery grass

to settle

onto its nest.

This is the hour

Duck asks: 

     What is yours?

     What is 

      mine?

River answers:

     Look how 

     your wings 

     glisten.

     How my eyes 

     wink.

Yes, Duck says.

     Now I see –

     this is the hour

     almighty sun 

     gives itself

     to everything.

- Irene Latham

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And now, to make this the longest post EVER, allow me to share with you some of my April events! I've got a few school and Skype visits that are private, and here are the open-to-the-public happenings:

April 9 (Twitter)

April 11-12 (Hattiesburg, MS)

Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival

(presenting on diversity with Leah Henderson)

April 14 (Tallahassee, FL)

Word of South Festival

April 21 (New York City)

PEN World Voices Festival

(with Charles Waters, Selina Alko and Sean Qualls)

April 21 (New York City)

Poets House (with Charles Waters)

Please let me know if you are able to join me for any of these things -- would love to see you! Wishing all the most glorious April ever! Can't wait to read everyone's offerings. xo