Our thoughts and prayers go out to all in the path of Hurricane Sandy, including our own Jeanne Marie. As a last-minute sub for her, I'm posting a quick preview of a special event we'll be sponsoring in November. We've decided to expand last year's Ten Days of Thanks-Giving into a full Two Weeks of Thanks-Giving, and we're hoping many of you will again join in the celebration, especially if you're a teacher or fellow blogger. This post includes an invitation to teachers who'd like to incorporate the event into their November lesson plans.
Before I explain how to participate, let me share some background: In October, 2011 Esther blogged about a poetry form called a Thanku--a thank you note written in the from of a haiku. Her post inspired the TeachingAuthors team to sponsor our first ever Ten Days of Thanks-Giving last November. During those ten days, all our posts included thank you notes to someone special. In my post, I shared the following Thanku addressed to my teacher and mentor, Sharon Darrow:
Your encouragement
yielded a harvest beyond
my expectations.
We also invited readers and fellow bloggers to share their own thank yous via comments, emails, or blog posts. At the end of the ten days, we posted some of those thank you notes on our blog, along with a round up of links to other blogs that had participated in the event.
We plan to do the same this year, with some minor modifications. As I mentioned, we're expanding the event so that it will run for two full weeks. This year's
Two Weeks of Thanks-Giving will take place
November 16-November 30. We will again invite our readers and fellow bloggers to participate by writing a
thank you note of no more than 25 words via prose or a poetry form of your choice. (We'd love to see more Thankus!) But this year,
we ask that your thank yous be writing-related,
expressing your gratitude to a writing teacher who helped you or to a writer you admire. You may consider following Sherman Alexie's #1 bit of advice in his
Top 10 Pieces of Writing Advice:
[1] When you read a piece of writing that you admire, send a note of thanks to the author. Be effusive with your praise. Writing is a lonely business. Do your best to make it a little less lonely.
Now, to all the classroom teachers out there: We invite you to give your students the same assignment-- to compose a thank you note to an author of their choosing. Please limit the assignment to 25 words of prose or poetry. (If you're planning to have them write their notes as Thankus,
see Esther's original post for inspiration.) We'd love for you to share some of your students' notes with us, either via a comment, email, or your own blog posts. We'll then include some of their work (or a link to your blog post) in our final round-up on November 30. The kick-off post on November 16 will include complete details on how to submit to us.
For all our readers: We hope you'll also participate in our
Two Weeks of Thanks-Giving. Again, watch for our November 16 kick-off post for complete details. And if you know any teachers who may be interested in participating, please share this information with them as soon as possible.
Finally, for those participating in
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) or
Picture Book Idea Month (PiBoIdMo), good luck!
Happy writing!
Carmela
Howdy Campers!
Carmela did a fine job of wrapping up our First Annual Ten Days of Thanks-Giving this week. Yay, Carmela!
Today was my monthly hike with the women I've fallen in love with as we leaped from rock to rock to cross creeks, dripped sweat up impossible hills, walked quietly under arched tree ceilings, and been photographed with in front of waterfalls, oceans and boulders. So today I write a thanku to the universe for giving me my hiking buds:
THANK YOU...
...for hard trails up to
egg-blue skies, for red leaves, for
six sweaty friends.
~ April Halprin Wayland
Here the last few thankus or simple thank yous:
From Joyce Ray:
I'm pretty late, but want to share my Thanku to my granddaughter Lindsay for terrific help in revising a poem recently.~you oiled mired wheelspushed my poem from its rutyour words, my words - WOW BEAUTIFUL, Joyce.
And Jan Godown Annino is the last in with this fitting contribution to our First Annual Ten Days of Thanks-Giving:
~Grateful to the 10 Days (catching it at the tail end. was in a cave of thesis-writing.)Grateful to be able to try to learn to say Thank You in many languages.
This includes some of the
Today is the last day of our Ten Days of Thanks-Giving. The event was inspired by Esther's post about a poetry form called the THANKU, a thank-you note in haiku form. We TeachingAuthors decided to sponsor the Ten Days of Thanks-Giving as an opportunity for our readers, students, and everyone in the Kidlitosphere to share their own thank-yous. We hope to make this an annual event taking place every November 20-30.
Today, I'll share some of the thank you notes we received, and a roundup of links to sites where fellow bloggers posted their thank-yous. But first, I want to share my own THANKU.
On Monday, Mary Ann wrote about being thankful for the Hive, a group of Vermont College alumni that we're both blessed to be part of. My thank you today is an appropriate follow-up to that post because it's to the woman responsible for my attending Vermont College: my teacher, mentor, and friend, Sharon Darrow. I've known Sharon for so long now that I can't even recall how we first met. However, I do remember the fateful day when we had lunch together and I mentioned my desire to take some advanced writing classes. Sharon encouraged me to apply to the Vermont College MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults instead. The idea terrified me. Who was I to try to get an MFA in writing? My undergraduate degree was in Math and Computer Science! But Sharon had such faith in me that I decided to take the plunge and apply. Little did I know then all the wonderful things my acceptance to VC would lead to.
Your encouragement
yielded a harvest beyond
my expectations.
Thank you, Sharon. And thank you to all the wonderful writing teachers I worked with at Vermont College as a result of following Sharon's advice.
Now, to share some of the thank you notes and comments we received during our
Ten Days of Thanks-Giving. As it happens, just this morning Bobby Miller, a terrific writer I met when we were both students at Vermont College, posted a Vermont College-related thank-you comment on
Mary Ann's post of yesterday:I share my big Thank You to the MFA/Writing for Children program. It changed my life, personally and professionally. It brought my life's goal into focus, gave it purpose. And I walked away with treasured friendships.
Yesterday, Linda at
Teacherdance posted a beautiful 25-word thank-you note to her w
Conventional wisdom says that the friends you make in college are the ones you make for life, whether you are twenty, or firmly in middle-age. I never expected to make twelve new BFF's in my forties, but I did. My ThankU goes out to my Vermont College MFA in Writing for Children classmates, Summer '00, aka "The Hive." These incredible writers have become a part of my life, both personally and professionally. Who would have thought when we met in the luggage claim at the Burlington Airport, July 1998, that we still be the close-knit group we are today?
I belong to a terrific critique group here in Georgia, all. I am a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, and through that organization I have writing friends all over the country. (If there is one thing we need in this solitary life we've chosen, it's friends who also write!) Yet none of these wonderful people have become part of my family, and I, theirs. Within the Hive, we know the status of each other's manuscripts. We share our collective knowledge of editors, agents, publishers, and other writers. We have seen each other through the death of spouses and parents, pregnancy and illness. Together we have shepherded our children from "the terrible twos" to the troublesome teens to college and marriage and another generation.
At first meeting, we were as diverse a group as you could find, aged twenty-something to seventy-something, with most of us somewhere smack in the middle. We came from all over the country, and just for something completely different, Thailand (that was me). In fact, had I not had my fellow "Bees" as close as my computer screen, I never would have survived my year and a half on the other side of the world. I remember the Thanksgiving my husband was on assignment in China, and the Bees kept emailing me to keep me from being too homesick, alone in my Bangkok high rise with a four-year-old.
When we came to Vermont College, differences in age, geography and previous publishing experience were forgotten. What mattered is that we had the same desire…to become the best possible writer we could. So intense were we, hanging on our instructors' every word, that our class loomed large on the faculty radar. We believe it was one of those instructors, Brock Cole, who inadvertently dubbed as "bees" because we fairly buzzed with questions and enthusiasm. So, if individually we were Bees, together we were "The Hive."
Not everyone in our class wished to maintain contact after graduation. Some members of the considerably smaller Winter '00 class wanted to be part of the Hive. We were honored that someone wanted to cast their lot with our busy bunch. It is hard to remember now when those two members were one of our number.
When I tell other writers about The Hive, they always ask how often we hear from each other. They are amazed that the answer is "couple of times a day." On the rare occasions that The Hive falls silent, someone (usually JoAnn) will send out an email on the order of "Where is everybody?" If one of us doesn't log in for a period of time, someone is sure to email (or even call) to make sure all is well.
Because we are scattered across the country, we have never physically all been together in the same place, not even at graduation. (The two "Bee adoptees" graduated before us.) We have managed to get a good number of them together in one place for various reunions, but never all of us. Still, we see each other more than most families do. If one of us is speaking in a Bee's hometown, you can be sure that any Bee within a fifty mile radius will be there too.
So...for all the manuscripts you've critiqued, rejection letters you've suffered through
Say the word Thanksgiving and right away, I’m gathering my favorite newspaper recipes – Mom’s Foolproof Turkey from a 1989 Chicago Tribune, Do-ahead Mashed Potatoes that are the stuff of any cardiologist’s dream, Cooked Cranberry Orange Relish that always surprises.
But now I have a new favorite holiday recipe, non-fat and non-caloric, yet nevertheless delicious: a Thanksgiving
Thanku, a thank you note in the form of a haiku.
Expressing gratitude has never been easier.
Between now and November 30, come join our TeachingAuthors Ten Days of Thanks-giving Celebration by writing a Thanku or any kind of thank you note, 25 words or less, to express your gratitude – to a friend, relative, neighbor, teacher, stranger, Little-known Hero, character, pet, author, artist, you-name-him/her/it – the choice is yours. Simply leave your Thankus or thank you notes in the comments below or email us at
[email protected]The recipient of my Thank You Note today?
One Barbara Lucas, Writer, Teacher, Editor, Publisher and Mentor Extraordinaire, Founder in 1983 of the one-week summer Vassar College Institute of Children’s Book Publishing and Writing that changed my Life.
I (bravely) attended the Institute in 1989, 1990, 1991, then again in 1993 (as a presenter) and finally in 1995, as a celebrant of the Institute’s 15th Anniversary. I’d be neither an Author or a Writing Teacher had Barbara’s path and mine not crossed.
(Barbara Lucas, front row, far right)
Barbara got her start in publishing at Harper and Row, as assistant to the legendary Ursula Nordstrom. She was Editor-in-Chief at Putnam and then at Harcourt, Brace and Jovanovich, when the publisher had all 3 names. She and Artist’s Representative Dilys Evans began and oversee Lucas-Evans Books, a book packager.
0 Comments on Of Thanks and Thankus! as of 1/1/1900
I have spent the last few weeks in a major funk -- the kind that makes me feel sorry for everyone who has to live with me, deal with me, talk to me. After a weekend in which I learned of the deaths of my friend's dad, Carmela's mother-in-law, and my parents' dear dog, Riley, writing a
thanku would seem like a really timely exercise. However, this morning... I'm coming up dry.
I tried to get my kids to do the work for me. Kate pouted. Patrick said, "I'll do it. I'm thankful for... everything. And rainbows."
Kate, her arms folded, scowling, finally acknowledged, "I'm grateful for Grandma and Pap. Family. Food. Can I be done now?"
Perhaps my cheerful attitude is contagious.
I remember reading a tweet from the late children's writer Bridget Zinn a few days before she died. She was desperately ill when she wrote, "Sunshine and a good book. Perfect."
Hugs; wonderful friends; dog kisses; the knees in my back when my kid is snuggling with me at night; a husband who loves me no matter how difficult I am; sadness, because it makes us appreciate happiness all the more; good health; God; love; life.
Thanks to all of you reading this who are blessings in my life. --Jeanne Marie
Today is the official start of our
Ten Days of Thanks-Giving! As
JoAnn explained on Friday, this is the first of what we hope will be an annual event, taking place
November 20-30.
It all started with Esther's post about a new poetry form she invented: the
THANKU, a thank-you note in haiku form. After her post, we talked about how there's so much negativitiy and bad news in the world, and how it might be uplifting to do a series of thank-you posts about people and things for which we're grateful. We'll start that series tomorrow. Meanwhile, we came up with the idea for sponsoring the
Ten Days of Thanks-Giving: an opportunity for our readers and everyone in the Kidlitosphere to share their own thank-yous. We encourage you to write a thank-you note of 25 words or less, as a poem or prose, and then post it as a comment or send it to us via email to teachingauthors at gmail dot com any time from now through November 30. Or, if you post a thank-you note on your blog, share the link with us and I'll post a round-up of all the links on or after our last day, Nov. 30.
If you're feeling creative, try your hand at writing a THANKU. She first wrote about the form
here. And
Lori Degman used the form to write a lovely reply in the comments:
Thank you Esther H.
for sharing yourself with us.
You've touched countless lives!!
Or just write a simple thank-you note.
I'll be sharing my thank-you when I post next week. Meanwhile, know that I'm especially thankful for my five amazingly talented co-bloggers, for all our wonderful readers, and for all the fantastic Kidlit bloggers I've come to know since we started this blog.
Happy writing,
Carmela
Inspired by
Esther’s invention of the thanku (a thank you note in haiku form), we
Teaching Authors are celebrating our first annual
Ten Days of Thanks-Giving with poems in that form and others.
When I thought about writing a Thanksgiving thanku, I started by brainstorming a list of possible topics—people, places, and things I'm grateful for. My gratitude list was impossibly long, so I decided to focus on that moment.
stillness before dawn—
recliner, cozy blanket,
coffee, notebook, pen
Although it fits the syllable count and describes something I'm grateful for, this one doesn't feel like a thank you note. I went back to my list. In my poetry class this week, two students introduced me to new forms, so I decided to try them.
The etheree has ten lines of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 syllables—or in reverse, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. An etheree with more than one stanza can include both.
This form seemed to suit my long list of things I’m grateful for, so I chose some that fit the pattern.
luck
coffee
purple pens
soft yellow yarn
dogs with wagging tails
chances to start over
sunlight streaking through dense woods
crossing chores off my to-do list
kicking up crunchy leaves on my walk
old family photo albums, labeled
Notice how coffee appears in both poems? I like to write first thing in the morning. But not only did this feel more like a list poem than a thank you note, using the etheree form forced me to leave out some of the most obvious things I’m grateful for. I could certainly add more stanzas with the number of syllables counting back down and up again. And again and again. (As I said, I have a long list!)
The lanturne is shaped like a Japanese lantern: it has five lines with 1, 2, 3, 4, and 1 syllables. Mine, like the thanku above, focuses on a moment.
long
drive home
from night class
open the door
sniff
fresh
spicy
aroma
what’s in the pot?
look
warm
kitchen
windows steamed
homemade chili
taste
beans
(two kinds)
tomatoes
from your garden
yum
sweet
welcome
(comfort food)
how you show your
love
This one hits the spot for me because it feels more like a thank you note. The end came as a surprise, which is one of my favorite things about writing. Sometimes I don't know what I'm writing about until it comes out of my pen.
: Write a Thanks-Giving poem. Teachers, invite your classes to join in! Try a thanku, an etheree, a lanturne, or another new form. See if you can express your thanks in 25 words or less. Then post your poems here or on any of our posts during our
Ten Days of Thanks-Giving, November 20-30. Or
Lots of things going on in November, Carmela. I think I will be so busy with still preparing to move, but certainly I'll pass this on, and will participate in your Thanks-giving. It is special to do and to share with others. Best to Jeanne Marie, and everyone else of course.
Thanks for the help spreading the word, Linda. And good luck with all the moving preparations!