Dear Educators and Parents, I am putting together a community poetry project for kids. Adults can play along too. [Note: This is a condensed version of this introduction. To read the full post, please visit the Nerdy Book Club blog.] I run an annual poetry writing project for adults. For one month, participants receive a […]
Laura's Blog
Sunday, 22 March 2020
Thursday, 19 March 2020
Happy Poetry Friday, everyone. How are you doing in these times of social distancing and self-quarantines? I have a DIY writing prompt for educators and parents to share with kids at home today. And I also have a BIG announcement! Announcement first: Due to the number of children who are learning at home right now, […]
Thursday, 12 March 2020
Happy Poetry Friday, everyone. Despite the social distancing, book festival cancellations, and school closures, I’m glad we can meet online as usual to share our love of poetry. 2020 is an important year for me. Ten years ago, in February 2010, my first book was published. You can read about Mountain, Log, Salt, and Stone (CityLit […]
Thursday, 27 February 2020
Happy Poetry Friday and happy almost Leap Day! Do you know any Leap Day babies? How do they celebrate? 2020 marks a huge anniversary for me. Ten years ago this month, my first book was published. You can read about my poetry chapbook, Mountain, Log, Salt, and Stone (CityLit Press, 2010) in Part 1 of […]
Monday, 24 February 2020
2020 marks a huge anniversary for me. Ten years ago this month, my first book was published. It was a poetry chapbook, Mountain, Log, Salt, and Stone. (CityLit Press, 2010) Since then, I’ve gone on to edit and co-edit two more books of poetry for adults, write a verse novel for kids, and a middle […]
Thursday, 20 February 2020
Hi, Poetry Friday friends. Are you ready for a robot invasion? I have a new robot friend. Its name is Po-M. Po-M Bot is helping me with this week’s post. We recently received a book from a robot-loving friend, author-illustrator Michael Rex. It’s called FACTS VS. OPINIONS VS. ROBOTS. As an educator, I love this […]
Thursday, 6 February 2020
This week, I’d like to thank Margarita Engle for her activism and advocacy during her term as Young People’s Poets Laureate and beyond. I recently read her sweeping history of Latin Americans in what is now the United States, Dreams from Many Rivers: A Hispanic History of the United States Told in Poems. I shared […]
Thursday, 30 January 2020
About a week ago, my poet friend Michael Rothenberg messaged me. The message was this: This looked to me like a monster in need of a poem. So… Monster Poem #1After artwork by Michael Rothenberg A monster bought the house next door.When it moved in, I wasn’t surejust how this creature, tall and wide,would squeeze […]
Thursday, 23 January 2020
Quick post this week, my poetry friends. One of my first reads of the new year was David F. Walker’s fantastic graphic biography, The Life of Frederick Douglass, illustrated by Damon Smyth and Marissa Louise (2019). (Publisher info here.) I’d taken this book out of the library. As soon as I returned it, I went […]
Thursday, 2 January 2020
Happy New Year, Poetry Friday friends! I am a member of the middle grade ARC sharing group, #BookExpedition. We are 12 educators — classroom teachers, librarians, and one visiting teacher (me) — from all around the U.S. We request Advanced Reading Copies of middle grade books from authors and publishers, then share them within the […]
Laura Shovan is the author of the award-winning middle grade novel, The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary. Her second book, Takedown, is a Junior Library Guild and PJ Our Way selection. Look for A Place at the Table, co-written with Saadia Faruqi, in 2020. Laura is a poet-in-the-schools Maryland.
