Laura's Blog
Thursday, 29 December 2022

“It became clear to me very quickly when I started expanding on the ‘waiting for the right resources’ parallel between poems and seeds that spring brought many of the things a seed needs to move from dormancy into active growth. “

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Thursday, 15 December 2022

The miracle we celebrate on Hanukkah has to do with oil. So whether you like your treats sweet or savory, it’s time to get out those fryers and put on those aprons.

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Thursday, 8 December 2022

One of my favorite projects of 2022 was writing a series of poems for Nature Culture’s Writing the Land Series. This organization pairs poets with local-to-them land trusts, to highlight our deep and abiding relationship with the soil, the forests, the farms.

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Thursday, 1 December 2022

My heart is broken. My dear friend and collaborator, the poet Michael Rothenberg, passed away on November 21.

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Thursday, 10 November 2022

Happy Poetry Friday, everyone. I haven’t been able to join the party in a while. We have been dealing with some health issues since the summer — including our first experience with Covid. Now that everyone is on the mend, I’m glad to be back with an author highlight. Today, I’m featuring a middle grade […]

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Thursday, 25 August 2022

Happy Poetry Friday, friends. And happy National Dog Day! I am happy to share that we are a two-dog family once again. In February, we adopted a second beagle. Abbi is elderly. Her owner passed away and the family surrendered her to the same beagle rescue that matched us with Arthur. Look at these two! […]

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Friday, 12 August 2022

Although I usually read Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice every year, it’s been a while since I’ve read her other novels. Persuasion is my favorite of all her books, then P&P, and Sense and Sensibility. Have you ever seen the movie written by and starring Emma Thompson as Elinor Dashwood? Alan Rickman play Colonel Brandon. […]

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Thursday, 4 August 2022

Hi, Poetry Friday friends. My website has been down or wonky for several months. (Was anyone else affected by the Go Daddy hack?) I’m back to blogging at last, though—sadly—some of  my posts from this spring were lost and can’t be recovered. Did you develop any habits or family traditions during the pandemic that have […]

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Thursday, 17 March 2022

Happy Poetry Friday! Thanks to Ruth at the blog There Is No Such Thing as a God-forsaken Town for hosting this week’s list of poetry links and posts. I’m always happy when a poem written  years ago finds a home with a journal or anthology. Back in winter 2011, when my children were still children, […]

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Thursday, 27 January 2022

I’m just “back” from my first residency at Vermont College of Fine Arts. “Back” in quotes because the entire 10 days of panels, lectures, and workshops was virtual — but still magical! Focusing on the craft of writing for was the creative food I’d been craving. One of the first events was a panel called, […]

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Laura Shovan

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.

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