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Guest Post by Sheryl Luna, winner of the inaugural Andrés Montoya Prize for her 2005 Pity the Drowned Horses. Her latest poetry collection is Seven (2013 3: A Taos Press).
Sheryl Luna
Students from around the country wrote me after two of my poems came out in the April edition of Poetry Magazine.Chinyere, Shannon and Gene wrote me with specific questions about my motivations for writing. A few other high school students around the country wrote me as well. The initial poem “Shock and Awe” deals with sexual trauma, and the second poem “Lowering Your Standards for Food Stamps” deals with the speaker working at 7-11 and observing violence in the parking lot. The poem deals with the shame of being on public assistance in this country. Most of their questions seemed to circle around the poem about food stamps. One young single mother wrote because she had recently had her food stamps slashed. She wrote an emotional email thanking me for exploring such a difficult topic.
The students from the Illinois Math and Science Academy also asked challenging and intriguing questions. They have given me permission to use their questions and my answers for La Bloga.
Here are a couple of email exchanges we had.
Hello Ms. Luna, Our names are Chinyere, Shannon, and Gene. We attend the Illinois Math and Science Academy. We are emailing you to inform you that we have picked you as a candidate for our Poet Laureate Project. In this project we research American poets who we believe will be worthy of the title Poet Laureate. As a part of this project, we would like to ask some questions. We were wondering where you got your inspiration for your poems? We also wanted to know whether or not you feel that your poems represent American ideas and values. We feel that your poems and background are very strong representatives of recent America, making you a candidate for this project. We hope you contact us back.
Thank you for your time, and our most sincere compliments to your work!
-Chinyere, Shannon and Gene
Here is my response to their initial email questions:
Hi Chinyere, Shannon and Gene,
Thank you so much for reading my poems!
I suppose I get my inspiration from living. I also learn about life from others, and it is through learning that I hope to grow as a person. It is that life journey, and our humanity towards one another, and even or our inhumanity towards one another that leads me to write I believe. It is my hope that we learn to treat ourselves well, and treat one another well.
The poems in POETRY magazine deal with public assistance and trauma and recovery, and yes, I see this as being representative of a large chunk of America and American ideas of fairness, equity and freedom.
I’ve heard 1 in 3 women are assaulted in this country. PTSD is prevalent as well after Afghanistan and Iraq. Many in society maneuver through a difficult bureaucracy, such as single working mothers, disabled people and the unemployed. So yes, in terms of recovery, resiliency, and overcoming adversity, I think they represent American ideas. My first collection and parts of my second collection deal with cultural diversity, which I think is central to American ideas and values. We are learning to value the various cultures which make America America.
I hope these answers suffice. Feel free to ask any questions that may arise.
Another group of questions they asked a few days later address community work and what one would do as Poet Laureate.I thought the students asked thought provoking questions, and their interest in what the poems were doing got me interested writing an essay on Post Traumatic Stress. Also, I found many of the questions by other students to be centered around the sexual trauma described in the poem “Shock and Awe.”
Ms. Luna,
Thank you for your timely response! We do have some follow up questions for you, and we hope you can give us as many answers as possible (its a bit extensive).
Besides your website and publications what do you do to help share poetry with your community? And how would you do this for the country if you were nominated as poet laureate?
Also, can you tell us a little about your past; how you came to writing poetry and more about what writing poetry means to you?
And as a final question (it's a broad one); what would motivate you to serve as our national poet laureate?
Thank you for your time and effort once again. I'll be awaiting your response.
Here are my responses to those questions.
One thing I do to help share poetry with community is that I volunteer at a local mental health center where I help teach a creative writing class. I think tying the creative arts, including poetry, to mental health centers is a great thing because it allows people to express themselves and their observations of the world and validates those experiences.
I came to poetry through a creative writing class I took as an undergraduate at Texas Tech University. I wanted to be a novelist, but the professor told me I was more of a poet.
What would motivate me to serve as national poet laureate? Wow. Well, I think I would like to share the joy of poetry with people of all ages. Encouraging others to read and experience the joy of writing would be a goal. Poetry writing is a means of sharing, surviving and thriving, so I would like to help implement community oriented venues where people can discover the healing power of art. I think this goes for young people as well as incarcerated people, the elderly, the disabled, middle aged individuals and families. I think oftentimes we are overly materialistic, and poetry can help us see the intrinsic value of creativity and art. So promoting poetry is promoting health and healing.
0 Comments on Sheryl Luna Does Not Shy Away from Tough Questions as of 5/23/2014 2:31:00 AM
Last Saturday on Global TV, Jill Daum from Kidsbooks discussed the latest releases for young readers. Check out the video below for her top picks, including our very own Seven (the series).
The launch of Seven (the Series) is just around the corner, and just a few days after the launch, three of the seven authors (Norah McClintock, Shane Peacock and Richard Scrimger) will team up at the Vancouver Writers Fest to discuss their parts in the project. If you plan to be in the Vancouver area on October 16, 2012, this would be a fantastic event to attend. Tickets are available to individuals and school groups, and you can download a study guide right from the online ticket office.
Event Details Date: Tuesday, October 16, 2012—1:00-2:30pm
Location: Granville Island Stage
Cost: $17 / $8.50 for student groups BUY NOW
Event Description: A unique and ambitious series is launching just days before this year’s Vancouver Writers Fest—seven Young Adult novels published simultaneously, stemming from the fictional instructions of a dying man to his seven teenaged grandsons. Each grandson is thrust into challenging and sometimes dangerous events to fulfill his grandfather’s wishes—ranging from tattooed gangs close to home, to near-impossible tasks set in Iceland, France, Spain or Tanzania. Three of the seven exceptional Canadian authors chosen to write these stories will talk about their part in this unusual project. Readers can look forward to Scrimger’s sense of humour, McClintock’s sense of mystery and Peacock’s dark plotting.
Are you excited about the upcoming launch of Seven (the Series)? Seven adventures from seven fantastic YA authors: Eric Walters, John Wilson, Ted Staunton, Richard Scrimger, Norah McClintock, Sigmund Brouwer and Shane Peacock. And all seven titles will be released on the same day!
To help you decide which of the seven adventures to read first, Orca Book Publishers is releasing an excerpt from one book each month leading up to the series launch on October 10, 2012. The excerpt for August is from Sigmund Brouwer’s Devil’s Pass.
About Devil’s Pass
Seventeen-year-old Webb’s abusive stepfather has made it impossible for him to live at home, so Webb survives on the streets of Toronto by busking with his guitar and working as a dishwasher. When Webb’s grandfather dies, his will stipulates that his grandsons fulfill specific requests. Webb’s task takes him to the Canol Trail in Canada’s Far North, where he finds out that there are much scarier things than the cold and the occasional grizzly bear. With a Native guide, two German tourists and his guitar for company, Webb is forced to confront terrible events in his grandfather’s past and somehow deal with the pain and confusion of his own life.
Visit www.seventheseries.com to download an excerpt of Devil’s Pass or any of the five previously published excerpts.
A big thank you to Anna and Hatchette Books Group for sponsoring the giveaway for Seven: The Number for Happiness, Love, and Success by Jacqueline Leo.
I actually signed up to review this book because my younger brother is convinced that 7 is his lucky number. He was born on the 7th of the month in 1977 and has a wonderfully pleasant temperament. It's because of him that I'd like to find out more about the number 7 and whether it does have any relationship to happiness, love and success.
If you're reading this, then you must share some of my curiosity.
About the Book, courtesy of the Publisher: What is it about the number seven that has such a hold on us? Why are there seven deadly sins? Seven days of the week? Seven wonders of the world, seven colors of the spectrum, seven ages of man, and seven sister colleges? Why can we hold seven numbers or words in our working memory--but no more? Author Jackie Leo explores everything about this mystical, magical, useful, and fun number in her new book.
SEVEN REASONS YOU NEED THIS BOOK
1. SEVEN is a tool to improve the quality of your life. It is a way to define time, synthesize ideas, and keep your mind performing at top speed in an era of distractions.
2. SEVEN is culturally significant. It pops up everywhere, structuring our world in ways so fundamental, we notice them only when we pause to look. Across the ages and across cultures, the number has acquired a huge scientific, psychological, and religious significance.
3. SEVEN is intriguing. Why, out of hundreds of recipes in a cookbook, do people return to the same seven, over and over? Why, when asked to choose a number between one and ten, does such a large majority of people choose seven? Why does it take seven rounds of shuffling to obtain a fully mixed deck of cards?
4. SEVEN is influential. You'll learn how the number seven shapes our thinking, our choices, and even our relationships.
5. SEVEN is practical. Throughout this book are Top Seven lists covering the best ways to get someone's attention, to build your personal brand, and to put yourself in the path of prosperity and good luck.
6. SEVEN is fun. You'll encounter surprising facts, intriguing puzzles, and hilarious anecdotes.
7. SEVEN is wise. You'll hear stories about the meaning of seven from Mehmet Oz, Sally Quinn, Liz Smith, Christina Ricci, and many others. Artfully designed and full of enough insights to keep you engaged in conversation at the water cooler for years, SEVEN will provoke, enlighten, and amuse.
About the Author, courtesy of the Publisher: Media guru Jacqueline Leo has held a number of high-level positions in publishing and television. She founded and launched Child magazine in 1986, and went on to be editor in chief of Family Circle magazine and editorial director of the New York Times Women's Magazine Group, where she launched Fitness magazine. She was senior producer and editorial director of Good Morning America, editorial director for Consumer Reports, and vice president and editor in chief of Reader's Digest. She is currently director of digital operations for the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. She lives in New York City.
CONTEST DETAILS
To enter, please tell us why you'd like this book.
Rules: 1. Please include your email address, so that I can contact you if you win. No email address, no entry. 2. For an extra entry, sign up to be a follower. If you're already a follower, let me know and you'll get the extra entry as well. 3. For another extra entry, subscribe via googlereader or blogger or by email and let me know that you do. 4. For another entry, blog about this giveaway and send me the link. 5. Leave a separate comment for each entry or you'll only be entered once.
The contest is limited to US and Canada only. No P.O. boxes. The contest ends at 7pm on November 27, 2009. Thank you so much, Anna and Hatchette Book Group for sponsoring this giveaway!
4 Comments on Do you believe in numerology? Book Contest for Seven: The Number for Happiness, Love and Success by Jacqueline Leo, last added: 10/31/2009
I’m about four chapters (I think – I hope) from the end of a book that I actually began writing nearly two years ago.For various family reasons it then got put on hold for at least ten months – and I have nearly 26 different versions of the first four pages: I know, because I labelled them by the letters of the alphabet.
This is a long gestation, even for me.I’m not a writer who plans the book chapter by chapter, then does a first draft of the whole thing.I’m a writer who proceeds by a sort of instinctive groping, like someone following a path through thick mist.There’ll be landmarks on the way – things I come to with relief, because I’ve known from the beginning that they’ll be there.But how to get from one landmark to another – that’s a journey of discovery done step by step.
In my last book, ‘Troll Blood’, for example, I saw from the beginning that at some point the hero, Peer Ulfsson, would find a broken dragonhead from a wrecked longship, lying half submerged in a tide-pool. (This is a good example of a faun-with-an-umbrella: see my last posting!) But it wasn’t for months, when I finally came to write the scene, that I realised the dragonhead symbolised his dead father, and the dragonhead itself took on a spooky, malevolent life I’d never expected.These are things you find upon the way.
And the reason it took months to reach that point is that I write and rewrite every page over and over as I go.Till they feel perfect.This is frustrating for my editor, who has to take the book on trust – there’s never a point where she can ask to see an early draft – because there isn’t one.When I come to the last full stop on the final page, that’s when book is done, finished, complete at last.It’s an emotional moment, like when they finally hand you the baby you’ve been struggling to birth.I sometimes cry.
Fairy tales and folktales are full of stock phrases, repeated over and over with incantatory effect, not just, I think, to aid re-telling and memory but because like snatches of poetry they send a shiver down the spine and are recognised as emotional truth.Here’s one that’s works for me just now:in a Scottish folktale the hero has to travel ‘over seven bens and seven glens and seven mountain moors’ to accomplish his task.Here I am, several mountain moors still to go, but the seven bens and the seven glens are certainly behind me, and it no longer seems totally impossible that I shall, eventually, finish this book!
5 Comments on Seven bens and seven glens and seven mountain moors - Katherine Langrish, last added: 8/25/2008
Fascinating to hear how you work. I'd never have imagined it from reading your writing; nor can I quite imagine working that way myself. In some ways I envy you that method; in other ways I don't (for me it would feel like jumping out of a plane and having to weave my own parachute on the way down). But I do know what you mean about discovery along the way. I make detailed plans, but they are only roadmaps; a roadmap doesn't show the terrain, and more than once I find a mountain or a swamp where I thought was only a simply road. Or a big metaphor where I thought was only a simple blog comment...
That is such good news. I remember well during Charney last year that you were having troubles and it's heartening to ALL of us to see that you've almost made it. Knew you would...it'll be terrific. Have to say, your work method sounds both terrifying and exhausting but that just goes to prove that every single person does it in their own way and their own time and you have to go with the flow and other assorted cliches!!
Fairy tales and folktales are full of stock phrases, repeated over and over with incantatory effect, not just, I think, to aid re-telling and memory but because like snatches of poetry they send a shiver down the spine and are recognised as emotional truth.
I completely agree. Glad your seven bens and seven glens are behind you and the destination is in sight.
Nick, it DOES feel like weaving a parachute on the way down! But such a long way down, somehow I have time to do it. Watching the ground coming up is scary, though. Thanks for your comment, Adele - so touched you remembered. It was a difficult summer. And Asakiyume - sounds like we are right on the same wavelength about folktales! Now - back to work!
Of course you will get there, Kath. And I am SO glad to find someone else out there who does the instinctive groping through a thick mist. This somehow makes me feel much better about being the non-planning kind of author. I too see it as a kind of journey--and my editor is incredibly patient about it too. Thanks for cheering me up.
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I've always been interested in numerology. I think I would very much enjoy this book.
bgcchs(at)yahoo(dot)com
I subscribe via email.
bgcchs(at)yahoo(dot)com
I am interested in numerology, too.
karen k
kmkuka(at)yahoo(dot)com
I'm a subscriber :)
karen k
kmkuka(at)yahoo(dot)com