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FTC Disclosure: Clicking on title and image links will lead you to my Amazon Affiliate page; No purchase necessary, though appreciated.
© 2010, Serena Agusto-Cox of Savvy Verse & Wit. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Savvy Verse & Wit or Serena's Feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
May 1, 2010
Apr 30, 2010
Welcome to National Poetry Month
THIS IS A STICKY POST~~ Welcome to the 2010 National Poetry Month Blog Tour!
I've been doing National Poetry Month events on the blog for several years from writing a poem a day to posting about new poets, but this year, I thought it was time to step it up a notch!
So I've corralled some great blogger buddies and poets to contribute in the first ever National Poetry Month Blog Tour. Monica at Monniblog created some great buttons for the occasion, and you'll see some variation of them throughout the month-long tour.
You're probably asking yourself, what will I find on this tour. Never fear, I will be posting a schedule of blogs, their dates, and their topics for you. But first I want to let you know that you too can read poetry, enjoy the places it takes you, and share it with friends and family. Like fiction or nonfiction, poetry just requires some exploration to find the poetry that speaks to you.
Nikki Giovanni says, "I've never 'blogged' before so this is new territory for me. I do poetry though and that is always somewhere in the netherland. I think poetry is employed by truth. I think our job is to tell the truth as we see it. Don’t you just hate a namby-pamby poem? That goes all over the place saying nothing. Poets should be strong in our emotions and our words. That might make us difficult to live with but I do believe easier to love. Poetry is garlic. Not for everyone but those who take it never get caught by werewolves."
Hopefully, this blog tour will express the variety of poetry available and you will find poets and poetry that you connect with. If not, that's OK too, but maybe we can't be friends (LOL).
At the end of the month, I am going to post a poll for you to decide which posts you enjoyed most, and the top three bloggers -- and maybe more, depending on the donations -- will receive a prize for participating. Never fear, there will be prizes for readers as well.
Here on Savvy, I'll be showcasing a variety of contemporary poets, the Virtual Poetry Circles will continue as scheduled, but there will be a few other fiction and nonfiction books featured for pre-scheduled tours.
OK, lets get to the National Poetry Month 2010 Blog Tour Schedule (I'm so happy with the turnout):
April 1: Savvy Verse & Wit Welcome Post, Maw Books showcases her old poetry, Semicolon's Favorite Classic Poems Survey
April 2: Diary of an Eccentric on Emily Dickinson, 32 Poems Interview with Geoffrey Brock
April 3: Regular Rumination on poet Claudia Emerson
April 4: Indextrious Reader interviews poetry publisher Brick Books
April 5: Jenn's Bookshelves reviews Tighty Whitey Spider by Kenn Nesbitt, West of Mars introduces the Roadie Poet
April 6: Janel's Jumble showcases Estrella Azul, The Betty and Boo Chronicles showcases Slamming Open the Door
.April 7: Reading Frenzy features Edgar Allan Poe
April 8: Books and Movies features Billy Collins
April 9: Rhapsody in Books features W.B. Yeats, Literate Housewife will talk about Alan Ginsburg and one of his readings
April 10: Booking Mama will review Poetry Speaks Who I Am, Write Meg! features Kim Addonzinio
April 11: Tea Leaves will review "Song of two worlds" by Alan Lightman
April 12: Monniblog will highlight British Columbia, Canada, poets/poetry, Ernie Wormwood will talk about driving Lucille Clifton who did not drive.
April 13: Life Is a Patchwork Quilt features poetry for the deaf
April 14: SMS Book Reviews will surprise us with a poetry book review, Author Ru Freeman will talk about poetry's cross-cultural presence, such as Palestinian poet Dharwish
April 15: KCBooks will discuss Robert Frost's The Outsider and how it impacted her, Author Amok will post a Wall of Shame with a list of states that do not have poet laureates.
April 16: the life (and lies) of an inanimate flying object will review Poetry Speaks Who I Am and host a giveaway for 2 books, Evelyn Alfred will profile either Rita Dove, Marilyn Nelson, or Mari Evans.
April 17: She Is Too Fond of Books will review Tighty Whitey Spider, A Circle of Books will review a small illustrated Poetry anthology, Wordsworth The Eternal Romantic.
April 18: Bibliofreak will feature slam poet Regie Gibson and a technique for writing poetry that resembles that kid's game called MASH.
April 19: New Century Reading will review a couple of poetry books, 1330V will also post a poetry book review
April 20: Bermudaonion will review The New Kid on the Block by Jack Prelutsky, 32 Poems Blog will interview John Poch.
April 21: A Few More Pages will feature Lucille Clifton
April 22: Necromancy Never Pays will feature a poem
April 23: Everything Distils Into Reading will review a poetry book, In Bed With Books will discuss Romantic poetry, how to read it, and review Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know.
April 24: the bookworm will feature Pablo Neruda
April 25: Bookalicio.us will review How to (un)cage a Girl by Francesca Lia Block
April 26: Peeking Between the Pages reviews for one of these poets: Jill Bialosky, Margaret Atwood or Sylvia Plath; things mean a lot will review Mary Oliver's Red Bird; Jen's Book Thoughts features THE LINEUP: Poems on Crime by Reed Farrel Coleman
April 27: Jen's Book Thoughts follows up with more poems of Reed Farrel Coleman; Linus's Blanket will talk about her experience reading poetry, Reb Livingston's Your Ten Favorite Words, for That's How I Blog show with yours truly.
April 28: Ooh Books will post a poem for Free Verse with Mr. Linky; Estrella Azul will feature Karen Schindler.
April 29: Online Publicist will interview me, Boston Bibliophile interviews Cambridge Poet Populist Jean-Dany Joachim
April 30: Brimful Curiosities will feature read aloud poetry: Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young collected by Jack Prelutsky, All Kinds Of Families by Mary Ann Hoberman, The Wonder Book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal; Diary of an Eccentric's The Girl talks about Shel Silverstein and his books
Thanks in advance to everyone who is participating!
Here's the Mr. Linky to post your full link from the tour. If you want to hop on the tour and post about poetry during the month and snag a button, you're more than welcome to add your links too!
FTC Disclosure: Clicking on title and image links will lead you to my Amazon Affiliate page; No purchase necessary, though appreciated.
© 2010, Serena Agusto-Cox of Savvy Verse & Wit. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Savvy Verse & Wit or Serena's Feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
Apr 8, 2010
Poetry Speaks Who I Am by Elise Paschen
combines written verse with audio recitation of poetry by the poets themselves on CDs spark young readers' love of poetry and verse. Readers between the ages of 11 and 14 will find poems in this volume that speak to their struggles with love, family, growing into adulthood, and making friends."[Paschen says,] For me this poetry is life altering. It's gritty. It's difficult. And it hurts in all the ways that growing hurts. It's meant to be visceral and immediate. It's meant to be experienced." (Page XI)
Gritty and real are the best terms to describe the struggles within these lines of verse, from being the only white kid in school to being a Black person at a time when political correctness suggests you are African-America. But more than that, there are poems about bra shopping -- the stepping stones of becoming a woman -- and the realization that the world is not perfect and that wars do exist.
Bra Shopping by Parneshia Jones (Page 16)Full of wit and sarcasm, this poem illustrates the angst and embarrassment of the narrator as she shops for bras with her mother under the watchful eye of the sales clerk. A number of poems illustrate these feelings of awkwardness and tenderness between friends and parents.
Mama and I enter into no man's, and I mean no man in sight, land
of frilly lace, night gowns, grandma panties, and support everything.
A wall covered with hundreds of white bras, some with lace, ribbons,
and frills like party favors, as if bras are a cause for celebration.
Some have these dainty ditsy bows in the middle.
That's a nice accent don't you think? Mama says. Isn't that cute?
Like a dumb bow in the middle of the bra will take away some of the
attention from two looking, bulging tissues.
The audio CD that comes with the book is stunning as each poem is read with emphasis and care either by the poet themselves or a contemporary counterpart. In some cases, the poems are accompanied by ambient noise and/or nature sounds. Some poems will garner young readers' attentions more than others, but overall the CD works.
Used Book Shop by X.J. Kennedy (Page 108)Poetry Speaks Who I Am
Stashed in attics,
stuck in cellars,
forgotten books
once big best-sellers
now hopefully sit
where folks, like cows
in grassy meadows,
stand and browse.
In a yellowed old history
of Jesse James
two earlier owners
had scrawled their names.
I even found
a book my dad
when he was in high school
had once had,
and a book I found --
this is really odd --
was twice as much fun
as my new iPod.
I always get hooked
in this dusty shop.
Like eating popcorn,
it's hard to stop.
is a wonderful collection of classic and contemporary poems from the likes of Langston Hughes and Lucille Clifton to the contemporary works of Billy Collins and Molly Peacock. Each poem will reach out to young adolescents in new and exciting ways, having them nod their heads in agreement as emotions, situations, and dilemmas are unleashed in verse. Moreover, the poems selected in this volume will not have readers scratching their heads, wondering what it all means. These poems are straight forward and get to the heart of the adolescent matter.FTC Disclosure: Thanks to Sourcebooks for sending me a free copy of Poetry Speaks Who I Am
for review. Clicking on title and image links will lead you to my Amazon Affiliate page; No purchase necessary, though appreciated. © 2010, Serena Agusto-Cox of Savvy Verse & Wit. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Savvy Verse & Wit or Serena's Feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
Apr 7, 2010
Watermark by Vanitha Sankaran
weaves an intricate tale in the shadow of dark forces that once held sway over the Church and through which a young woman blossoms and carves her path in the world out of love and sacrifice."'For crimes of heresy and thoughts against our Church,' he began, 'the condemned who have repented are forthwith instructed to wear the yellow cross of the heretic upon their clothes at all times, so all may know their crimes and trust or mistrust their words and deeds as is just.' He brandished a parchment roll and read off names followed by crimes in his sonorous voice. Relief rose in cries after each name.
Auda watched the archbishop's mouth move. More than ever, he seemed like a puppet." (Page 298 of ARC)
Auda is a mute Albino living in France during the 1300s at the time of the inquisition when heresy and witches are seen even among the innocent. Her father is a papermaker and her sister, Poncia, is a young wife of a merchant in Narbonne, a prospering and sheltered city. Innocent activities in Narbonne can be misconstrued into heresy by those who dislike you, misunderstand you, or simply wish to be devoid of suspicion. Making paper and providing it to anyone, rather than parchment to nobles and the church, is unwise, but Auda and her father have unflappable dreams. Auda wants her voice to be heard -- clearly and loudly -- despite her disability, but already she is an anomaly being a woman of letters.
"'The Italians and the Spainards have sold their broadsheets for years,' her father said, glancing at Auda. 'The Church has done nothing --'
'Because Her eyes are fixed on France.'
'Oc, because France houses her pope, not because of any heresy!' His voice rose. 'Even if paper brought cause for concern, that doesn't put me in the same barrel as witches and heretics.'" (Page 189 of ARC)
Rising fortunes bring her to the forefront of society after being sheltered since her mother's passing, but can Auda handle what is to come, how her life will change, and where her conviction will lead? Watermark
transports readers to a time when many in France were carefully watching their own actions and those of their neighbors, looking for sinister subtleties in their behaviors. It will emotionally tug at the heartstrings as Auda learns to come into her own, makes adult decisions, and learns that even simple actions can have hefty consequences and that love can transcend the physical. One of the best books of the year!
Vanitha Sankaran holds an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University. In addition, her short stories have been published in numerous journals, such as Mindprints, Futures, Prose Ax, and The Midnight Mind. She is at work on her second novel, which is about printmaking in Italy during the High Renaissance.
Check out the rest of her TLC Book Tour here.
***
Also don't forget to check out the next stop on the National Poetry Month Blog Tour at Reading Frenzy with Edgar Allan Poe.
This is my 23rd book for the 2010 New Authors Challenge.
FTC Disclosure: Thanks to TLC Book Tours, HarperCollins for sending me a free copy of Watermark
for review. Clicking on title and image links will lead you to my Amazon Affiliate page; No purchase necessary, though appreciated.© 2010, Serena Agusto-Cox of Savvy Verse & Wit. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Savvy Verse & Wit or Serena's Feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
Apr 6, 2010
Author Carol Snow's Writing Space
-- hits stores today, April 6. The protagonist, Veronica Czalicki, is a housewife who soon finds herself on her own when her husband leaves her for another woman -- the love of his life. She's now a financially struggling single mother, but she has other problems too. She just happens to look like a famous star. Veronica receives some respite from her daily struggles when she's asked to become the star's double.Check out WriteMeg!'s review.
Let's take a look inside Carol's writing space. Please give her a warm welcome.
My office has pale wood floors, sage walls, and three big windows that look out to the street. It has two oak book shelves that I periodically (and futilely) attempt to organize, a comfy blue loveseat, and a really, really big oak desk.
Years, ago, when we were living in Park City, Utah, my husband found the desk through the local PennySaver. According to the seller, in the twenties the desk belonged to the President of Utah Power & Light; on the side there’s a little brass plague that says, “Property of UP&L.” As far as provenance goes, that’s not as cool as if the desk had belonged, to, say, John Steinbeck. (Granted, it’s hard to imagine Steinbeck’s desk making its way to Utah.) But I still like the sense of history. And, you know -- power. (Sorry. That was uncalled for.) The desk has four very deep drawers and a file drawer. We’ve been shoving stuff into those drawers for years. I have no idea what’s in there.
Mostly, though, I like sitting on the couch because one of my cats usually ends up on my lap. I like to think it’s because they love me and not because my lap is soft and the computer is warm.
Thanks, Carol, for sharing your workspace with us.
I'm not sure how she gets any work done on those adult and teen reads with those cats hanging out all over her desk. It must be great exercise. . . for them.
***
The next stops on the National Poetry Month Blog Tour are Janel's Jumble and The Betty and Boo Chronicles. Go check them out!
FTC Disclosure: Clicking on title and image links will lead you to my Amazon Affiliate page; No purchase necessary, though appreciated.
© 2010, Serena Agusto-Cox of Savvy Verse & Wit. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Savvy Verse & Wit or Serena's Feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
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