Uncategorized
Monday, 29 January 2024

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 […]

Read More

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 […]

Read More

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 […]

Read More

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 […]

Read More

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 […]

Read More

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, […]

Read More

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 […]

Read More

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 […]

Read More

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 […]

Read More

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 […]

Read More

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.

Learn More