Jeannine Atkins

Slow writers can be friends with fast writers, yes? I’m rooting for friends who are trying to write a novel in a month. Cheering and amazed, even when the goal is for a very rough draft, or getting in the habit of sprinting past internal censors. And in my area, Leslea Newman http://www.lesleakids.com/, who is currently the very active and imaginative poet laureate of Northampton, MA, was inspired by NaNoWriMo to start a 30 poems in 30 days project.
You can read about it here: http://www.northamptonartscouncil.org/view/web/id/7746/title/30_Poems_in_30_Days_Project_

Leslea has done wonderful things for our community, such as getting poems in the local newspaper and poetry books into doctor’s offices. Now money raised by this project – she suggests anything from a nickel to a dollar a poem --will benefit the Center for New Americans, http://www.cnam.org/ which supports literacy and education for people new to our part of Massachusetts. From what I’ve read, many who’ve learned language and computer skills here go on to help others, making this agency both cost-efficient and friendly to those who might arrive with trepidation.

I know myself. I’d be beating myself on the head trying to write a poem a day, and would be left in the dust, tinkering, though Leslea says they just have to be poems, not good poems. But I’m going for the bystander role, sponsoring Dina Friedman d_dina_friedman who’s in my writing group. Dina writes:. “I'm seeing it as a goal to be disciplined and use the form to pay closer attention to language. I find that focusing on poetry from time to time really helps my fiction writing.” Other participants include published poets such as Leslea, Jane Yolen, Corinne Demas, Katha Pollitt, and Amy Dryansky, while others may be writing some of their first poems, or first poems in years. And all sorts of poets in between, with everyone welcome. It’s about having fun for a great cause.

Have you written a poem today? Go! if you can. And cheer on our friends if you can’t.

I had a great afternoon talking about books at Smith Campus School in Northampton, MA. Thank you Sabra Aquadro and other organizers! And I got to listen to Patricia MacLachlan, author of Sarah, Plain and Tall, as well as many other books, read poems about dogs. Here she is holding a picture of herself when she was young.



Richard Michelson read from Did You Say Ghosts? while authors Heidi Stemple (back) and Corinne Demas listened, waiting for their turn to read.



What a thrill to hear Grace Lin read from Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. It’s exciting to see such a gorgeously illustrated novel.



Librarian Nancy Brady took this picture of me, Grace Lin, Anna Alter, Diane deGroat, and Shelley Rotner.



There was a lot of professional talent in that room, but the students, oh my gosh. We were given gift bags where I found, besides really good chocolate, cards the children had made on the theme of Great Changers. Here are two inspired by my picture books. Inside one card Abby wrote about Mary Anning. An excerpt: “She loved the sea as much as a lion loves his dinner. She loved her work.” I think you can see that from the beautiful grin she gave Mary. Hey, prying out a seventeen foot long ichthyosaur fossil has got to be some fun.



And Lila wrote, “…Aani made a great change in the seventies.
Whenever someone said, ‘Can I cut down some trees?’
She would say, ‘No.'
… She was peaceful
She was as peaceful as one tiny leaf falling
Were you scared, Aani?"

Excuse me while I go try to write another book that might be worthy of these readers.