Poetry invites experimentation. Many writers have accepted the invitation and found ways to uniquely express themselves—by diverging from traditional formats in ways that enhance the meaning and imagery of their poems. We’ll take a look at a few of these artists and excerpts from their work, with a particular eye for the verse they created for children.
E. E. Cummings (1894–1962) left a major mark on the genre of poetry. Poet-critic Randall Jarrell said of him, “No one else has ever made avant-garde, experimental poems so attractive to the general and the special reader.”1 Cummings rarely capitalized words (his name, included) and used space and punctuation in unusual ways, jarring readers from the expected and getting them to think about the words and their meanings in the context of the poems.
Where: USC, 3551 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90089
Booth # 826
PAL authors and illustrators from the LA and SoCal regions will be appearing and signing their books in the famed Booth #826. Here’s the weekend schedule of Signing Authors and Illustrators to help you make your plans:
Longtime SCBWI member Joan Bransfield Graham is an award-winning children’s poet whose books include Splish Splash and Flicker Flash—shape poems about water and light (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). Both books were School Library Journal Best Books of the Year and NCTE Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts, among many other honors. Her other published works include The Song We Chose to Sing (ACTA), a poetry/music CD, and The Poem That Will Not End: Fun with Poetic Forms and Voices (Amazon Children’s Publishing/Two Lions). She has also contributed to many poetry anthologies.
Joan took a moment to answer some questions for the Kite Tales Blog.
ANN ROUSSEAU SMITH: Congratulations on your newest book, Awesome Earth, illustrated by Tania García. You have written many poems in many poetic forms. Why concrete or shape poems for this new book?
JOAN BRANSFIELD GRAHAM: Thank you, Ann! Since I was going to be featuring landforms, shapes that grace our Earth, what better way to explain a shape than with shape itself—concrete poetry. Not only is the poem talking about the landform but also showing it. Awesome Earth combines poetry, science, and art to explore what creates landforms from “Mountain,” “Glacier,” and “Volcano” to “Island,” “Hills,” and “Hoodoos”—artistic wonders that cover our Earth’s surface. It’s a perfect book for STEAM, National Poetry Month, and Earth Day. Many teachers have told me that my poetry has proven helpful for their students who are acquiring English as it offers many clues to unlocking the words.
ARS: I love how poems in any form—concrete or other—create visual images for the reader or listener. Can you share any writing tips for the poet in all of us?
JBG: MY FIVE FAVORITE POETRY WRITING TIPS
1. Use all of your senses.
2. Use vigorous verbs, marvelous metaphors.
3. Each poem is a mini-story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. If your poem doesn’t have a payoff or new perspective at the end, maybe it’s upside down. Don’t give it away at the start.
4. Use details to reach the universal. Zoom in for a close-up or write a wide-angle, big picture poem.
5. Write the poem you’ve never read before.
ARS: Since Awesome Earth is a nonfiction book it contains back matter, including information on landforms, a glossary, and additional resources for readers. How involved are you with the back matter? Do you find all the information and references, or does the publisher assist?
JBG: I did all of the back matter myself, including the photos. Originally, the additional information was going to be sidebars, but the design team decided to use everything as back matter. It’s a challenging endeavor to take a huge amount of research, distill it, and make it easy to understand. How do you introduce tectonic plate theory and continental drift to a four- to eight-year-old? My books always have a much wider age range than what is listed. In ice-skating, doing jumps and twirls can look so effortless because the skaters have put a lot of work into it. The same goes for writing. Speaking of age range, landforms are studied in all grades, just in different ways. Once a woman said to me, “I don’t know who is having more fun with this book (Flicker Flash)—my six-year-old grandson or his father, who is a physicist!” It’s wonderful to get a response like that!
ARS: You are a longtime member of the SCBWI and a volunteer board member of the Central-Coastal California (CenCal) Region. How helpful has your involvement with the organization been to your writing and publishing career?
JBG: When we first moved to California, I was at the local library one day reading a copy of The Writer magazine, where I saw an ad for the SCBW (it didn’t have the “I” yet) Summer Conference in Santa Monica. Where is Santa Monica? I thought it wasn’t too far away, decided to attend, and have been going ever since. I’ve made lifelong friends, heard amazing writers, artists, editors, and agents speak and share their knowledge of both craft and the business side of publishing, learned a great deal, and had an incredible opportunity to meet a wealth of creative, amazing people, and so I have been a volunteer forever—I am so grateful I joined! Thanks to you, Ann, for your volunteer work, for helping to share happy news and keep us all connected!
Thank you, Joan, for all your thoughtful responses!
For more information about Joan and her books visit her childrensauthorsnetwork! website. Join her on Facebook.
For information on SCBWI-CenCal events (open to all SCBWI members!), go to scbwi.org/regions/cencal.
For more fantastic content, community, events, and other professional development opportunities, become a member today! Not sure if there is a chapter in your area? Check here.
Images provided by Joan Bransfield Graham and the SCBWI Central-Coastal Region
Events, Opportunities, and Resources happening now and coming soon for the Tri-Regions and beyond
Check out more resources at the end of the post!
APRIL 9 Register to attend Writing Poetry for Children with April Halprin Wayland through UCLA Extension! “In three hours of lecture, group participation, and individual writing time, you learn the basics of writing poetry for children, play with different forms, and learn to hear children’s poetry with new ears.” This class is free to attend and will take place on April 9, 2025, from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Click here to save your spot!
Author Harshini Vankineni with the proof copy of her debut, What Color is the Baby?
Harshini Vankineni is a writer and an immigrant from India and lives in Southern California with her husband and children. Her debut picture book, What Color is the Baby?, is set for release on April 1, 2025. Harshini writes picture books, young adult fantasy, and new adult romance. She likes to write complex characters who are often dealing with societal pressures head-on and to tell stories that are a lens to her culture.
Judy Y Faulkner: Welcome to Kite Tales, Harshini! Tell us a bit more about your history. Have you always been a writer?
Harshini Vankineni: Thank you, Judy. I think I’m a specimen of what middle-class Indian kids are brought up to be—despite many dreams and talents, you end up becoming a computer engineer or a doctor because of parental and societal pressures. I’m a graduate of Software Engineering. I came to the USA, or should I say was sent to the USA, to pursue a master’s in Computer Engineering. But I have been writing since the day I read an abridged version of The Tempest (with pictures and everything). My first manuscript was a really messy tale inspired by Johanna Spyri’s Heidi. I was twelve then, and boy, did I plagiarize. I wrote it in an expired, dated journal that an uncle gifted me, and my mother preserved it until I burned it. Because in that, the villain was my mother.
As the 2025 mentorship contest deadline approaches, SCBWI-L.A.’s Contest Coordinator checks in with a few past winners who’ve gone on to score major successes…
by Brenda Scott Royce
2020 Mentee Edward Underhill’s adult debut is in bookstores now
A few months ago, I was perusing the new release display in my local bookshop when a title called The In-Between Bookstore caught my eye. (I’m a sucker for any book about books, libraries, or bookstores!) I stared at the author’s name for a few moments before it struck me why it seemed so familiar—Edward Underhill won SCBWI-L.A.’s mentorship contest in 2020. The manuscript he worked on with mentor Nicole Maggi, Always the Almost, was published in 2023 by Wednesday Books, an imprint of Macmillan. Ed summarized the mentorship for Kite Tales in 2021, concluding: “Nicole’s mentorship gave me gifts I didn’t even know I needed, and I would not have gotten here without it.”
The In-Between Bookstore is Ed’s adult debut, and it’s garnering rave reviews (and a cover blurb by mega-bestseller Jodi Picoult!). Seeing it on the bookshelves made me wonder about other past mentorship contest winners. How many are enjoying similar achievements—and did their mentorship experience contribute to their success? I reached out to a few to find out.
**Note: The SCBWI-L.A. Mentorship is a six-month program that alternates between various categories of writing and illustrating. In this post, our 2024 winner, illustrator Kristin Marine, shares her experience with the program and last year’s mentor, Jaime Zollars. The 2025 mentor will be announced at the end of the post.**
by Kristin Marine
I applied for the SCBWI-L.A. Mentorship Contest in 2024. I had a portfolio on my website, a few written stories, and a book dummy. I felt pretty good when I reached out to illustration agencies in search of representation, but I heard more than once that I wasn’t quite “ready.” I wasn’t sure what ready looked like, and I hoped a mentor might help me figure it out.
Events, Opportunities, and Resources happening now and coming soon for the Tri-Regions and beyond
UPDATE – EVENT NEXT WEEK! MARCH 25
Award-winning author Matthew Burgess, Caldecott Medalist Doug Salati, and three-time Caldecott Honoree Marla Frazee will join forces for Illustrating the Power of Poetry!, a conversation about collaboration, the power of poetry and the process of illustrating poems for children. This free event takes place on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, beginning at 7:00 p.m., at Once Upon a Time Bookstore, 2207 Honolulu Avenue, Montrose, CA 91020. After the conversation, the creators will be available to sign books. “This gathering would be beneficial to teachers, librarians and anyone who works with children to inspire their creativity.” For more information, visit Once Upon a Time.
OPEN NOW Join your friends and peers at the 2025 Art Day: Illustrators and Writers Connect, SCBWI SoCal! This one-day hands-on workshop runs from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Laguna College of Art & Design on March 15, 2025. Our fun-filled day near the ocean will include warm-up exercises, “draw off and hands on activities,” as well as presentations from award-winning authors and illustrators.
OPEN NOW Sign up today for the SCBWI-LA Sketch Safari at The LA Zoo! Pack your drawing materials and wear your comfiest walking shoes as you trek the Los Angeles Zoo with illustrator Alexander Vidal on Saturday, March 29, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The cost of registration also includes admission to the zoo. “While this is a sketch event, writers are welcome to share the fun for story inspiration!” Although the event is only two hours long, folks are more than welcome to spend the rest of the day at the zoo!
SCBWI members’ publishing news is something to celebrate here at Kite Tales! Check out whose book is coming to a platform near you or around the world. Horn-tooting and digital high fives welcome in the comments!
Kite Tales 