As I was contemplating this week's blog post a few days ago, I was thrilled to receive an email from poet friends Charles Waters and Irene Latham. Their children's poetry anthology The Mistakes That Made Us: Confessions from Twenty Poets (Carolrhoda Books, 2024), will be published on Oct. 1 and they had just received their first review!
"Comforting reminders that nobody's perfect, infused with lessons large and small." - Kirkus Reviews
I'm so proud to be a part of this, with my poem about a bicycyle mishap, "Eating Concrete." You can read the complete review here, or better yet, pre-order a copy now and review it yourself!
As for my hiatus, yes, it's true - I'm taking the summer off. I think this will be the first time I've ever do so, but life has just gotten way too busy between writing, submitting, voiceover work, household chores, and finding enough time to spend with the kids. I hope you'll stick with me, though, because I have all kinds of fun stuff coming up in the fall, including two new anthologies, more news about my OWN upcoming anthology due in the spring, my new board book Tractor Dance (Susan Schadt Press), which arrives in October.
So with summer officially arriving in just another day, I thought I'd leave you with a poem that I wrote back in 2015, that has never appeared on this blog! Written for Carol Varsalona's "Summer Splashings" gallery at her blog BeyondLiteracyLink, it has, for some reason, never seen the light of day here at the ol' Triple-R:
Speaking of Carol, I hope you'll check out her wonderful review of Bless the Earth, the poetry anthology from Nancy Tupper Ling and June Cotner that came out this past spring. I was honored to have two poems in it, and am so happy to know Carol loved it as much as we do.
Tabatha Yeatts is holding down today's Poetry Friday roundup with an "interview" with English poet William Blake at The Opposite of Indifference, so head on over for all the links and fun, and I'll see you in September!
~~ I am booking author visits
for the 2024-2025 school year! ~~
Not having raised my rates EVER, I regret to say I will need to increase my rates slightly this coming school year; if you think you might be interested in having me visit your school, please contact me by the end of August and I will lock in my current rate for you! (You don't need to book me or sign a contract; simply let me know you're interested, and I'll lock in the current rate for you!)
Check out all the presentations I offer, then email me at Matt (at) MattForrest (dot) com!
I love chatting with elementary and middle school classes about writing: why poetry is fun to read and write, the importance of revision, and how imagination and creativity can lead to fantastic careers! My presentations are tailored to fit the needs of the classes and students' ages. One day I might be sharing details of how a picture book like Flashlight Night (Astra Young Readers, 2017) was created; the next, I'll be discussing dinosaur breath or crafting origami sea turtles!
Student presentations include:
- The Making of a Picture Book
- How a Child Saved a Book
- "Once Upon Another Time"
- The Most Important Thing about Writing Poetry
- "I Am Today"
- "A Beginner's Guide to Being Human"
- "Everybody Counts: Counting to 10 in Twelve Languages"
Adult presentations include:
- The Making of a Picture Book
- The Most Important Thing about Writing Poetry
- Free Yourself with Free Verse
- Tight Language, Loose Narratives: Crafting a Non-Traditional Picture Book
- The Journey of a Children's Author
Learn more at MattForrest.com!
=====================================================
Arriving Oct. 8, 2024!
Pre-orders are available - just click the cover!
=====================================================
I'm now on BOOKSHOP!
=====================================================
I'm also very happy to be part of the BOOKROO family!
=====================================================
Ordering personalized signed copies online? Oh, yes, you can!
You can purchase personally-signed copies of Flashlight Night, (Astra Young Readers, 2017), Don't Ask a Dinosaur (Pow! Kids Books, 2018), and nearly EVERY book or anthology I've been part of!
Click here to view all my books and to order!
Just click the cover of whichever book you want and send a comment to the good folks at MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, NH requesting my signature and to whom I should make it out. (alternatively, you can log onto my website and do the same thing) They'll contact me, I'll stop by and sign it, and then they'll ship it! (Plus, you'll be supporting your local bookseller – and won't that make you feel good?)
======================================================
Did you like this post? Find something interesting elsewhere in this blog? I really won't mind at all if you feel compelled to share it with your friends and followers!
To keep abreast of all my posts, please consider subscribing via the links up there on the right! (I usually only post once or twice a week – usually Tues. and Fri. – so you won't be inundated with emails every day) . Also feel free to visit my voiceover website HERE, and you can also follow me via Twitter , Facebook, Instagram, and SoundCloud!
No comments:
Post a Comment