DOCUMENT RESUME_ ED 359 540 CS 213 931 AUTHOR Copeland, Jeffrey S. TITLE Speaking of Poets: Interviews with Poets Who Write for Children and Young Adults. INSTITUTION National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, Ill. REPORT NO ISBN-0-8141-4622-8 PUB DATE 93 NOTE 140p. AVAILABLE FROMNational Council of Teachers of English, 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801-1096 (Stock No. 46228-3050; $9.95 members, 512.95 nonmrAbers). PUB TYPE Viewpoints (Opinion/Position Papers, Essays, etc.) (120) Guides Classroom Use Teaching Guides (For Teacher) (052) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC06 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Adolescents; Children; Elementary Secondary Education; Interviews; *Personal Narratives; *Poetry; *Poets; Reader Text Relationship; Writing (Composition); *Writing Processes IDENTIFIERS Author Reader Relationship; Author Text Relationship; *Writing for Children ABSTRACT Presenting informal interviews, this book opens a window into the writing processes, influences, work habits, and personal backgrounds of 16 poets who write for children and young adults. The interviews in the book provide not only critical discussions of poetry but also ideas about how teachers can help children understand poetry and enjoy writing their own. The poets interviewed in the book share the common belief that poetry for children should be fun, exciting, magical--and the poets disclose widely varied means of achieving this end. Poets interviewed in the book are: Arnold Adoff, Lilian Moore, Mel Glenn, Aileen Fisher, Karla Kuskin, Jimmy Santiago Baca, Mary Ann Hoberman, Myra Cohn Livingston, Valerie Worth, Lee Bennett Hopkins, X. J. Kennedy, Gary Soto, Eloise Greenfield, Barbara Juster Esbensen, William Cole, and Eve Merriam. (RS) *********************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * *********************************************************************** S S U 04PARTIIIIINT Of EDUCATION "PERMISSIO Office of Educa4onat Research and improvement MATERIAL H EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) )14his document has been teoroducea as -.1aV 4received from the person or poem:m.0o oogmattno C Maw chines nave been made to mo,ove ,00,001/C11011 Quatgy BEST COPY AVAI LEA POI nog 01 tempw or coomonli Staled In t hts aocu TO THE EDUi Meal do not nocossooly represent otlictal °Cm Ooomon of oehey 9 INFORMATIO Speaking of Poets Speaking of Poets Interviews with Poets Who Write for Children and Young Adults Written and edited by Jeffrey S. Copeland University of Northern Iowa National Council of Teachers of English 1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, Illinois 61801-1096 4 Permission acknowledgments appear on page 128. NCTE Editorial Board: Keith Gilyard, Ronald Jobe, Joyce Kinkead, Louise Phelps, Gladys Veidemanis, Charles Suhor, ex officio, Michael Spooner, ex officio. Manuscript Editor: Julie Riley Bush Staff Editor: Marto Welshons Cover Design: Doug Burnett Cover Art: c by Susan M. McGinnis Interior Design: Doug Burnett NCTE Stock Number: 46228-3050 " 1993 by the National Council of Teachers of English. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. It is the policy of NCTE in its journals and other publications to provide a forum for the open discussion of ideas concerning the content and the teaching of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any particular point of view does not imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, or the membership at large, except in the announcements of policy, where such endorsement is clearly specified. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Copeland, Jeffrey Scott, 1953 Speaking of poets : interviews with poets who write for children and young adults / written and edited by Jeffrey S. Copeland. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-8141-4622-8 1. American poetry-20th centuryHistory and criticismTheory, etc. 2. Young adult poetry, AmericanHistory and criticism Theory, etc. 3. Children's poetry, AmericanHistory and criticismTheory, etc. 4. Poets, American-20th century Interviews. 5. Young adult poetryAuthorship. 6. Children's poetryAuthorship. I. National Council of Teachers of English. II. Title. PS325.C71993 811'.54099282dc20 93-22729 CIP 5 For my guiding light, my partner, my love: Vicky Lynn vii Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction xi Arnold Adoff 1 Lilian Moore 10 Mel Glenn 17 Aileen Fisher 27 Karla Kuskin 35 Jimmy Santiago Baca 42 Mary Ann Hoberman 49 Myra Coh:t Livingston 60 Valerie Worth 69 Lee Bennett Hopkins 76 X. J. Kennedy 83 Gary Soto 91 Eloise Greenfield 97 Barbara Juster Esbensen 104 William Cole 113 Eve Merriam 119 Editor 127 Acknowledgments This project could not have been completed without assistance from many quarters. Thanks and appreciation are in order for the following people: Michael Spooner for his encouragement, suggestions, and kindness through all stages of the writing; Vicky and Crystal Lynn Copeland for daily encouragement, help with transcription of interview tapes, computer expertise, and putting up with the clutter, which at times rivaled the mess produced by the Johnstown Flood; Lucille Lettow, youth librarian supreme, for helping me assemble the many volumes of poetry necessary for this project; Dee Gaede of B. Dalton Booksellers for helping secure the newest releases in quick order; Ann and Richard Rupe for providing a wonderful writing studio; Members of the Children's Literature Assembly for their advice and counsel during the initial stages of the project; Judith Ayer Doyle of Curbstone Press, Alison Wood of Clarion Books, Kimberly Pfohl of Macmillan Children's Book Group, Laurie Callahan of New Directions Publishing Corporation, and all the other members of publishing firms who helped me acquire photographs of the poets and books in galley form; Ben Nelms for introducing me to the world of children's poetry and Jerome Klinkowitz for teaching me about the world of publishing; Mario Welshons, staff editor, and Julie Riley Bush, manuscript editor, for manuscript preparation and editorial assistance. Thanks of the highest order is also given to the poets of this volume for sitting through my stacks of question:- and for giving so much of themselves to this project. Bless you all. xi Introduction As with the changes in other forms of literature, the poetrywritten for children and young adults has undergone a steady evolution through the decades. Some of this change has been quite obvious. One merely has to glance through Rachel Field's Taxis and Toadstools (1926) and compare it with Arnold Adoff's Chocolate Dreams (1989) or Gary Soto's A Fire in My Hands (1990) to see such general changes as less attention to rigid poetic forms and formal rhyme scheme and more emphasis given to rhythmic qualities and universal voices within the poems. These and other changes are, of course, important,but the significant evolution in the poetry written for children and young adults has been not so much in the poetry itself but in how the poet views his or her craft and, therefore, the relationship of the poet to the reader. This new intersection of reader and poet is a point of shared experience. We are now in an era in which poets understand a great deal more about the process of literary response, the process by which the children interact with their poetry. It is an era in which the study of children's poetry preference, a study still in its infancy, has given the poets the power to see within the psyche of the reader. It is an erain which poets speak to their readers not only through the images and ideas in a poem but also through extended notes, dialogues,and comments about how they view the nature of poetry and the wonders of childhood. Poets today invite their young readers to meet them first as people, to read and enjoy their poetry, and then get actively involved physically or symbolically with the printed line. It is a timewhen Karla Kuskin in Near the Window Tree: Poems and Notes (1975) shares with her readers her sources of inspiration for the poems, personal anecdotes related to each, ane her philosophy of crafting poetry and then encourages readers to write their own. At the same time, Gary Soto in A Fire in MyHands not only provides detailed introductions for his poems but also describes his own personal process of composing in a "Question and Answer" section at the end of the book. It is a time when Myra Cohn Livingston introduces a young speaker in "I Havent Learned to Whistle," (from 0 Sliver of Liver and Other Poems, 1979) and readers everywhere pucker their lips. It is a time when reader and poet come together and build a common ground of understanding. This project was begun as a means of continuing and illuminating this shared experience among the poets, readers, teachers, librarians, 9 xii Speaking of Poets and others who share poetry with young readers. I asked leaders of the Children's Literature Assembly of the National Council of Teachers of English to identify poets they would most like to have presented for examination. They also offered suggestions related to the format of the book. The interview format was chosen for this project in order to keep the poets' responses as candid, natural, and informal as possible. This would allow the poets an opportunity to present and give emphasis to areas of their own lives and works they wished to share. I also decided that even though there was a small group of questions that the assembly wanted every poet to respond to, a standard list would not be used for all. Rather, other interview questions would be designed based upon the specific works and unique experiences of each poet. This project took me from an overstuffed couch in front of a crackling fire in Barbara Juster Esbensen's den in Edina, Minnesota, to the family room/library/museum of Arnold Adoff's magnificent homestead in Yellow Springs, Ohio. However, not all interviews could be conducted in z.z....ich settings.