I can’t wait for everyone to meet Hannah — a put-upon eldest sister and cousin — who doesn’t want to give up her starring role in the family seder. She has a story to tell. A story with fighting and snakes, floods and escapes, music and matzo. “Music and Matzo” is my contribution to the […]
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Monday, 29 January 2024
Thursday, 6 January 2022
Happy first Poetry Friday of 2022! Today, I’m featuring my favorite middle grade book of 2021 — the brilliant (and hilarious, and sad) climate emergency satire, ONE SMALL HOP by Madelyn Rosenberg. Here is an abbreviated description of the story from Goodreads: Perfect for fans of Carl Hiaasen’s classic Hoot, this humorous adventure story set in […]
Thursday, 19 August 2021
This is a post about dogs. You’ve all gotten to know the Shovan family dogs over the years — anxious Sam the schnauzer and his very best friend, Rudy the (goofy, lovable) beagle. But it’s also a post about poetry. I am a huge fan of Laura Purdie Salas‘ A Leaf Can Be series of […]
Thursday, 1 July 2021
Welcome, poets and poetry fans. Poetry Friday is here this week. You’ll find the link-up at the bottom of this post. One of the last trips I made before the Covid-19 lockdown was to Tallahassee, Florida. My friend, poet Michael Rothenberg, took me to a magical spot, Wakulla Springs. During a boat tour of the […]
Thursday, 17 June 2021
Hi, Poetry Friday friends. Today, I am sharing a very special call for poetry submissions. My friend, the poet Hiram Larew, is the positive force behind the website www.Poetry X Hunger.com. Hiram is using poetry to draw attention to the issue of hunger in our country and the world. But before the submission details… here […]
Monday, 1 February 2021
Welcome to my 9th Annual February Daily Poem Project. For several years — in order to practice writing in community — my blog hosted a poetry project. We moved to Facebook in 2017 to accommodate the number of poets and writers who wanted to participate. 2021 Theme: Bodies In this time of a global pandemic, […]
Monday, 20 July 2020
Welcome, readers and eaters. While there was only room to print one recipe in the back of A Place at the Table, my co-author Saadia Faruqi and I didn’t want to disappoint potential chefs. Scroll down to find three printable recipe cards featuring foods from the book. (Cards designed by Mary Zadroga of Steel Toe […]
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, 31 December 2018
Ah, the holidays. Family time, favorite foods, haunted hotels. Wait. What? This was my favorite story of the 2017 holiday season, originally posted here on Twitter. It begins with an arduous journey… I have a fun holiday story for you! Drove the family 6+ hours to the Catskills Mountains today — through snow. We were […]
Monday, 3 September 2018
Welcome to my weekly — I hope weekly … occasional? — news post. Look for “Now What?” most Mondays for book news, upcoming appearances, fun tidbits, and obligatory dog photos (ODPs). I scoured the internet for a poem about Mondays, something I could use for the title of this regular feature. But Mondays are not […]
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.
