Rectangles of Light...and a Question!

Beautiful breakfast
prepared by Dudly!

 Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Linda at TeacherDance for Roundup. (Next week Roundup is HERE. Yay!)

Last week I was in Camden, Alabama doing some research. I met new friends (Hi Betty and Tony!) and hung out with some long-dear ones: Kristin Law and Sulynn Cresswell at Blackbelt Treasures, which is my favorite place to shop in the universe! I spent some time perusing the art, and yes, I found some new subjects for my ArtSpeak: FOLK ART project! Yay! (See below.) 

I stayed with other long-dear ones at my favorite B&B in the universe, Liberty Hall, which is owned and operated by Julia Ann and Dudly Handly and some very friendly hummingbirds. Good times!

Y'all, I have Ludelphia to thank for these relationships. In the nearly fifteen (!) years since Leaving Gee's Bend (which is set in 1932 Gee's Bend and Camden) was released, I have had the opportunity to visit many times. And now I have a new Alabama Black Belt story brewing!!

Speaking of story-brewing...I wanted to share a few take-aways from the 2024 SCBWI summer (virtual) conference. I watched almost every video, starting at the end: Kate DiCamillo's closing keynote. This was not Kate's first time to give this particular talk, and goodness, I hope she gives it a thousand times, because it is THAT good.

 Among other things she said we can use our own heartbreak to create a rectangle of light (a book!) for someone else. She talked about all the wonderful things that have happened to her as an author and asked herself the question: "What if I'd stopped?"

What if I'd stopped writing Leaving Gee's Bend? Oh, I wanted to! I DID stop. And restarted. Again and again...what if I'd stopped? I wouldn't be writing this post, that's for sure. And SO MANY other things. All this to say to all of you out their writing and stopping and sometimes feeling hopeless: KEEP GOING.

Erin Lee talked about creating Instagram reels (which I will likely never do myself) asked this question: Who are you, IN ONE WORD? Now that's a question to ponder! I know what my word is....(see the end of this post!)  Do you know what your word is? How can this word inform your writing, your days, your lifetime?

Felicita Sala, illustrator, reminded us that the word "wonder" means "to leave space."

Eddie Gammara talked about how picture books become TV/film. Basically, scouts are looking at the cover and title of a picture book, at what emotional response is generated, what images come to mind. That's it! Only the cover and title to convey something irresistible! The example he shared was Boss Baby by Marla Frazee.

Torrey Sharp, who is a book cover and book designer reminded us that branding=identity + reputation. (What is reputation? What people remember and SHARE about you.)

Tameka Fryer Brown talked about lyrical picture books, about refrains and codas. And about punctuation! (I would love to teach about punctuation as a tool in poetry!)  She will often use STET (which means "leave it the way I have it") to maintain the "flow" of text when dealing with copyeditors who insist on grammatical correctness.

The panel on Early Readers made me (again) want to write for this audience! I have since read all their books. Check out Valerie Bolling's Rainbow Days; Melissa Iwai's Gigi and Ojiji; Kelly Starling Lyons' Ty's Travels; and Emma Otheguy's Reina Ramos in Queens.

Alison Weiss talked about graphic novels, and I learned about the "blushing shoujo moment." The way I understand it, this is the moment when the (blushing) hero reveals her feelings. So, a pretty big emotional moment! And something for all of us to be thinking about, whether we are writing manga or whatever other genre.

Alyza Liu talked about picture book biographies. She reminded us to ask ourselves: what would KIDS be interested in? Not what they should know, but what they WANT to know. And go for emotion, not an encyclopedia entry.

Andrea Wang (author of the lovely Watercress) talked about memoirs in picture books. She said instead of write what you know...write what you REMEMBER. I love that!

And I will close with the talk I have thought about the most since hearing it: Martha Brockenbrough on raising the stakes in our writing. She gave some great examples, even in picture books! Check out The Yellow Áo Dài by Minnie Phan and Hanh Bui.

And now for this week's ArtSpeak: FOLK ART poem. I selected a clothesline painted by Carol Bandy Carson (found at Blackbelt Treasures)!

 I've actually written another poem about a clothesline (in 2015!), called "Clothesline Season," which features a city clothesline. 

And earlier this year I wrote one called "Airing the Quilts." 

Thanks so much for reading!

Clothesline

What is a clothesline

but a bedsheet's beach?

A place to loosen

and laze,

to sunbathe

and dive into sky's tides—

rustling leaves,

chirring birds,

the occasional mooooo—

A chance to snap

and flutter about

those new bloomers

hung out for the first time,

how they flap and flirt

with the wind,

pretending to be

flamboyant,

unruffled—

which everyone knows

they're not.

- Irene Latham

Finally: Back to that question posed by Erin Lee: Who am I in one word? 

POET. 

What about you? Please share in comments!

Another question, if you've read this far: What's your favorite Kate DiCamillo book?? (MIne is The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.)