Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Jan at Bookseedstudio for Roundup.
I am yet again away from my desk! But all good things...
How 'bout those awards? I love livestreaming the alayma announcements! BIG congratulations to Carole Boston Weatherford, who received the Children's Literature Legacy Award (formerly the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal or Wilder Award). Carole's body of work is rich and deep, and her work ethic and generous spirit continue to inspire!! Count me proud and happy!
Some of my favorite 2024 books got awards:
One Big Open Sky by Lesa Cline Ransome - CSK Honor & Newbery Honor. I blogged about the book here!
Joyful Song by Lesléa Newman, illus. by Susan Gal - Sydney Taylor Honor
Up, Up, Ever UP! by Anita Yasuda, illus. by Yuko Shimuzu - Caldecott Honor (Yuko's second! Her first was for The Cat Man of Aleppo!) Anita and Yuko both visited the blog a few months back.
24 Seconds from Now by Jason Reynolds - CSK Award! This book made my 2024 Favorite YA Book List!
Home by Isabelle Simler- Batchelder Honor (for translations!). I blogged about these beautiful nonfiction poems here.
Wild Dreamers by Margarita Engle - Pura Belpré Honor!
The big winner, The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly, is one I haven't read yet! Which is surprising, because EEK is one of my all-time favorite MG authors. I mean all her books are just so beautiful and moving and inspiring. But isn't that the fabulous thing about books? They'll wait for you as long as you need them to. (Good news: I was requesting titles through my library as the awards were announced, and I've got a digital copy in queue on my e-reader!)
Many of my other favorites were not recognized. And that's okay! I've served on quite a few book awards committees and I have seen behind the curtain...decisions are TOUGH. There are SO MANY WONDERFUL BOOKS in the world...and only a very few slots for award recognition.
I think of awards as whipped cream or a cherry on top. So so fun and festive and lovely! But not the reason to write. Not even a goal to keep, because one has no control over such things. They're just...extra. And if they happen to your book, great! Have fun with it! And if they don't? Remember a book's purpose isn't to win awards; it's to connect with a reader, to share between author-reader a bit of this experience we call life...let's have fun with that!
I had so much fun with today's ArtSpeak: PICASSO poem! Actually, it was a rough start. The art features a rooster, and I just couldn't think of an original thing to write about a rooster! So I set it aside for a day and decided to DREAM about a rooster instead. That dream brought me to another great red thing: Jupiter! And THEN I had so much fun. :) Thank you so much for reading.
I Dream of Roosters
I dream
I am a great red
space explorer
I discover
the great red
spot on Jupiter
is actually a flock
of Jupiter-roosters
their great red
wings shimmering
against that great red
star we call sun
the roosters are singing
but only I can hear it
their great red
song such a tiny flicker
in that great red
symphony of stars
- Irene Latham
Irene! I feel with your fun pace-y persona poem, you've invented a new prompt technique - to consider-- the subject/theme & not write, then, but sleep with the intention to dream about it. I'm calling it Irene Inspiration. Appreciations for the awards wrap up. I remember learning from your blog about the French author Isabelle's Eng. translation of HOME poems & was enchanted . Such, much, needed goodness, here.
ReplyDeletespace-y....
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! I love the idea of Jupiter's Red Spot as a flock of roosters.
ReplyDeleteRoosters are my #1 (and only) enemy. But I do love this poem. I love the idea of Jupiter-roosters and maybe we could fling the Earthly roosters to Jupiter? Then I'd be happy. :)
ReplyDeleteI love watching the awards, too, and hope you'll love The First State of Being, Irene. I did! I love this rooster art, and that you found a wonderful dream for them. ON MARS! I'll never view it again without thinking of your "great red/wings shimmering"!
ReplyDeleteHahahahahaha. A flock of Mars roosters is a fun and funny surprise. I love it! I love watching the awards. I have One Big Open Sky on my table with me right now. It's lovely.
ReplyDeleteI love the repetition in your poem, Irene. Keep dreaming!
ReplyDeleteHa ha -- this is JUST what I needed, this kind of poetic whimsy and imagination. Dream on!
ReplyDeleteThat's a good way to think about awards - honestly, they're the opinion of a handful of adults, who, let's be fair, aren't really even the target audience of the books they're judging! Most of the time, I find actual kids aren't typically very fond of award-winning books, which tend to appeal more to grown ups anyway. And I say this as someone whose books have won awards. ;-) It's a good reminder not to let anything go to my head. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the pivot to dreaming, Irene. When reality isn't inspiring, there's always the dream. :)
ReplyDeleteIrene, I love your courage (and wisdom) to set aside a poem that won't come, and patiently wait. Your red rooster's dream was worth the wait!
ReplyDelete