V is for video. Today, children's writer and poet Renee LaTulippe is joining us. Thanks Renee! Thanks Julie for another fabulous illustration.
I met Renee through the 12x12in12 challenge (a picture book writing challenge hosted by Julie Hedlund). Being relatively new to writing children's poetry I was thrilled when I came across her blog, No Water River. Her blog is full of fun poems for kids and the best part each poem is accompanied by a video. She is going to share one of her fabulous poems today minus the video. But don't fret you can head over to her blog and watch many of her fun videos.
Renee, why do you write poetry?
Mainly because it’s fun! I have always loved words
and wordplay, so I get a kick out of putting together sounds and syllables and
arranging them just so, so they are fun to read and dance to. At least, that’s
the aim. Whether I succeed all the time is a whole ‘nother question. (Sometimes,
though, writing isn’t fun at all – it’s even a torture for me. In those cases,
I agree with my pal Dorothy Parker: “I hate writing; I love having written.”)
What kind of poetry do you write?
I write children’s poetry, probably aimed toward the
younger set and pretty much always in rhyme. I especially like to create weird
little characters and write poems about them that are little stories in
themselves. I didn’t start with children’s poetry, though. Back in the day, I
was all about adult poetry in free verse, but it turns out that’s not where I
should be hanging out (I mean…really).
I do plan on playing with free verse and different forms in my kids’ poems,
though.
What inspires you to write poetry?
Absurdity. I love absurd happenings and humor,
twisted looks at normal things, the possibilities of “What if…?” Plain old
silliness/being silly inspires me. Penguins. And my husband, who is also a
literary type and a master at wordplay in Italian. Not only is he my
brainstorming partner, but he also has a little hobby of thinking up book and
poem titles that are often so funny or bizarre or thought-provoking that they make
me wonder “Now what would that
book/poem be about?” In fact, the name of my blog No Water River came from one
of his titles in Italian (Il Fiume
Senz’acqua).
Who is your favourite poet? Why?
I don’t have a favorite anything because my tastes
are so varied. I might adore one poem or book by an author, but detest every
other word that author has ever set on paper. What can I say, I’m fickle! My
favorite tends to be whoever I happen to be reading at the moment. Right now
that person is Amy Ludwig VanDerwater,
who is brand new to me and whose poetry I have just fallen in love with. At
other moments in my life it has been Sylvia Plath, Adrienne Rich, and every
other great female poet, and of course I love and admire Dorothy Parker for her
wit and humor – her poetry is a bit morose, but she kills with her one-liners! For
the guys, I like Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, and Billy Collins for
their gifts of observation and beautiful writing that is accessible to all.
What is your favourite poem? Why?
See above! Oh, all right, let’s see if I can name one
or two. Since I am a theatrical type who prefers her poetry read out loud, I am
drawn to poems with juicy words or emotions or characters. That’s why I like
Plath’s “Daddy,” Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” (as I wrote about on Katie Davis’s
blog), Carroll’s “Jabberwocky,” anything by Shakespeare, Whitman’s “O
Captain! My Captain,” and Dr. Seuss’s “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.” Told
you my tastes run the gamut!
A piece of advice you would like to share with your fellow
poets?
As I’ve written elsewhere…get
on your feet during the writing process! Say the words at full voice, not under
your breath – but be wary of falling into the same speech rhythm over and over.
To avoid that, pick a different imaginary audience to read to each time (your
peers at a café, bigwigs at an awards ceremony, kids in the park, a group of
attentive penguins) and in different situations (a rap concert, a church, the
middle of an Oscar Wilde play). I swear, nothing helps me hear the hiccups more
in the early stages of writing than getting out of the chair and giving voice
to the words. Later, of course, it’s a good idea to give it to other people to
read aloud – they won’t have your rhythm already in their heads, so you’ll get
a “truer” reading and hear what doesn’t work.
Why do you create video poetry?
I simply believe that poetry is a living thing that’s
meant to be heard and savored orally and aurally, not just dissected on paper
and left there with its guts hanging out. I am especially adamant about this
when it comes to sharing any
literature with kids – whether it’s a poem or Huck Finn – because, for me, appreciation (of language, story, character,
and craft) must come first. In fact, I’m pretty sure that “formal text
analysis” happens naturally if you just let kids live the literature and get excited about it – I mean, who wants to
analyze something she doesn’t first feel in her bones or heart? [Off soapbox,
exit stage right]
So yeah…I do poetry videos
because I want kids to see that poetry is alive and fun and not scary and
waiting to be slurped up with a straw.
Can you share a tip or two about making poetry videos
or reading poems out loud?
Sure! When you’re making a video or just
reading a poem aloud, the most important thing is to make sure your audience
can understand what you’re saying! That means using good diction and being
aware of voice production, which takes practice. The goal is to avoid speaking
from your throat by centering your voice on your front palate and supporting it
with good breathing technique. Like I said, this takes practice, but quickly
becomes second nature. Good vocal production will give your voice a pleasing
resonance and prevent you from “swallowing” your words or losing the ends of
sentences in your throat.
Another tip comes from the
oral interpretation unit of the public speaking course I taught, and that is to
go through the poem many times, marking up the “script” in whatever way makes
sense to you. I use musical notation, or a system of underscores, circles, slashes,
and highlights to mark pacing, pauses, emphasis, loudness/softness, gesture,
movement, and so on. This is called “scoring the script” (as an actor might do
with a play script) and will be your roadmap to a layered reading.
Of course, these are just
quickie tips. Anyone interested in learning more will find lots of info just by
searching the terms “basic vocal production,” “oral interpretation,” and “scoring
the script.”
Any recent publications and/or accomplishments you would like to share with us?
I've said this before and I'll say it again. Renee, I would have loved to have had you as a teacher! Thanks for coming on my blog today. Now a poem by Renee.
Ugly Pants
I have a pair of ugly pants
with rips around the knees.
They have pink stripes and polka-dots
and smell like moldy cheese.
They’re made of fleece and burlap,
and they’re weird and warm and snuggly.
If I wore them to a costume ball,
I’d win the prize for ugly.
I wear them every weekend,
though the other kids may tease,
but I just love my ugly pants
for climbing in the trees.
I know I shouldn’t boast or brag,
but I can say this smugly:
no one has a pair of pants
so perfectly, beautifully ugly!
(“Ugly Pants” by Renée
LaTulippe. Licensed by All About Learning Press, Inc. Copyright © 2010, 2012
All About Learning Press, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No portion of this material
may be copied, retransmitted, reposted, duplicated, or otherwise used without
the express written approval of All About Learning Press, Inc.)
Challenge
--Since poetry is meant to be performed when you write your poem today, I want you to perform it. No, you don't have to create a video, but try performing your poem in front of your kids, spouse, or a trusted friend! Try writing a poem about something that is absurd like a vampire rabbit! Or
--Use today's word "vampire" to write a poem.
Resources
If you liked this post please let others know with a click of button below. Tomorrow, author Debbie LaCroix will be joining us to talk about the W's. I hope you come back for that.
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Do you want to catch up or re-visit earlier poetry posts? Here are the most recent poetry posts:
A former English/theater/communications teacher and wannabe starlet, Renée is the editor at All About Learning Press and a children’s writer. She also blogs on language and grammar at AALP (often under the guise of her alter ego, the Chipmunk of Doom), and composes silly poems for her own blog No Water River. Renée holds a BFA in acting/directing from Marymount Manhattan College, an MA in English Education from New York University, and a Ph.D. in…oh, wait, no, that’s it.
To read and hear more of Renee's fabulous poetry head over to her blog No Water River.
Julie Rowan-Zoch graphic designer morphed by motherhood into super-volunteer, spun into a pre-pubbie cocoon, soon to emerge writer and illustrator of children’s books! To learn more about Julie check out her fabulous blog by clicking here or find her on Facebook by clicking here. Stay tuned to see more illustrations from Julie.
