They Say Poetry is Dead...

They Say Poetry is Dead...

Writing the "How to" Poem

With poems by Leslea Newman & Yours Truly

Joan Kwon Glass's avatar
Joan Kwon Glass
Jul 26, 2024
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In 1994, I moved from Michigan to Massachusetts to attend college. In the little college town I would come to consider a second home, I came to know the work of Leslea Newman, who wrote one of first, popular children’s books on LGBT families (Heather Has Two Mommies). As an 18 year old, I came across her book in a little LGBT bookstore called Pride & Joy that used to sit on the bottom of the hill, near the current Roundhouse Plaza, and next to a copy shop which was called Paradise Copies. This is the same store where I purchased my copy of Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg. Read more on the legacy of Pride & Joy (which closed after 20 years, in 2013) HERE. And below, a National Enquirer article from 1992!

I am truly honored (and a bit starstruck, if I’m being honest) to present a poem and prompt by Leslea Newman below. I’ve paired it with one of my own “how to” poems.

How to Bury Your Mother

a wooden bridge over a sandy area
Photo by Clay LeConey on Unsplash

Bio: Lesléa Newman has created 86 books for readers of all ages including the dual memoir-in-verse, I Carry My Mother and I Wish My Father, the novel-in-verse, October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard, and many children’s books written in verse, including The Fairest in the Land, The Boy Who Cried Fabulous, and I Can Be….ME! Her literary awards include a poetry fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and two National Jewish Book Awards. From 2008 – 2010, she served as the poet laureate of Northampton, MA. You may learn more at her WEBSITE.

Follow Leslea on socials!—Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

Buy her books HERE & HERE

I am including two of my own “how to” poems in addition to Leslea’s prompt below:

Ready to write? Check out the prompt below AND gain access to all past prompts!

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