A good rule for writing true is, start with what bothers you. But what do we do when what bothers us is too much to figure into a story? How about making a list?
Difficult Conversations: Disorganized Narrative Inside
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Children’s Book Club: “Toasting Marshmallows: Camping Poems”
S’more time! Join us for a Children’s Book Club discussion of a collection of camping poems called ‘Toasting Marshmallows’ by Kristine O’Connell George.
Poetry Prompt: Come Back To Your Heart (Map)
Looking for ways to tap into your memories and turn them into stories or poems? Try heart mapping, a creative exercise in exploring what you hold close.
Difficult Conversations: Of Sweaters, Birthdays, and Identity
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Reader, Come Home: October’s Pages
Come learn the secrets of being a deep reader with Megan Willome. And share your October pages for our monthy Reader, Come Home column.
Halloween Poetry Prompt: Never Too Old For …
Join Callie Feyen as she confesses why Halloween is a favorite holiday, and also, that she hopes to never grow too old for its make believing.
Difficult Conversations: Mind the Whales
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By Heart: “Ulysses” wrapup
“Come, my friends.” Join us for this month’s By Heart column, in which we wrap up our memorization of the last lines of Tennyson’s ‘Ulysses.’
Poetry Prompt: Mystery Poems for Halloween
What’s the difference between mystery and fear? Join Callie Feyen as she discusses trying to create mystery poems from what makes us afraid.
What Freedom Means to You (and Me)
What does freedom mean? L.L. Barkat considers the complications of this timeless question, in the company of tractor pulls, rifle shining, a trilling creek, and angora rabbit clouds.
A Story in Every Soul: Step By Classical Step
Dheepa R. Maturi shares how a story by E.M. Forster stirs hope, motivating her to re-examine her role in protecting the earth, step by step.
Read Like a Writer: C.E. Morgan’s Personification Technique in “All the Living”
In the latest Read Like a Writer column, Charlotte Donlon explores the use of personification technique to bring words to life.
Longfellow, Whitman, Wheatley: Whatever Happened to Patriotic Poems?
Patriotic poems like “Paul Revere’s Ride” and “I Hear America Singing” were once quite common, but can you think of a patriotic poem of the last 20 years?
Poetry Prompt: Fall Invitation Poems
Writer Callie Feyen takes advice from poet Tania Runyan and instead of describing, she invites the reader into a memory of a fall day.
Difficult Conversations Book Club: Let’s First Hear from Aunt Bertha
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Children’s Book Club: “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl”
If you read ‘Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl’ before 1998, you haven’t read the most complete version. Join us as we discuss the least-known parts of the world’s best-known diary.
Random Highlights from Random Acts of Poetry Day
We take stock of another richly celebrated Random Acts of Poetry Day with schools, city governments, libraries, refrigerators and … squirrels.
Fall Poetry Prompt: Coming Home Poems
A new name for an old tradition takes author Callie Feyen on a trip down memory lane, and she finds herself at home on a rainy fall evening. Come home, too, with your own poems!
Reader, Come Home: September’s Pages
Do you deep read? Or has your reading entered the danger zone? Come learn the secrets of being a deep reader with Megan Willome. Share your September pages. And, come home.