{"id":2233,"date":"2011-11-04T00:01:06","date_gmt":"2011-11-04T06:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2233"},"modified":"2011-11-04T06:22:24","modified_gmt":"2011-11-04T12:22:24","slug":"what-i%e2%80%99m-doing-at-kirkus-this-weekplus-what-i-did-last-week-featuring-steven-withrow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2233","title":{"rendered":"What I\u2019m Doing at Kirkus<\/em> This Week,
Plus What I Did Last Week, Featuring Steven Withrow"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Banner, created by Rob Dunlavey<\/a><\/strong>, for the site<\/a><\/strong> of
Poetry Advocates for Children & Young Adults<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

This morning over at Kirkus<\/em> I shine the spotlight on Norton Juster’s<\/a><\/strong> new picture book, Neville<\/em>, illustrated by G. Brian Karas<\/a><\/strong>. The link is here<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

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Over at last week’s column<\/a><\/strong>, I asked writer, researcher, teacher, editor, producer\/film-maker, and poet Steven Withrow<\/a><\/strong> in an abbreviated Q & A all about his new project, Poetry Advocates for Children & Young Adults<\/a><\/strong>, or PACYA. (As I noted at Kirkus<\/em> last week, in the name of full disclosure I\u2019m one of PACYA’s advisory board members, a follow-my-bliss, labor-of-love type of activity for sure. I’m happy to be a small part of the many efforts on this project.) The full interview is below. Enjoy. <\/p>\n

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Jules<\/font><\/strong>: How did PACYA come to be?<\/font><\/p>\n

Steven<\/font><\/strong>: Over many years of writing and researching poetry and children\u2019s\/YA literature, I noticed that, while there are thousands of passionate children\u2019s poetry supporters in communities around the world\u2014and potentially millions of casual fans\u2014most advocacy efforts and poetry-related programs and events exist in isolation: many voices in the chorus, but not much in the way of harmony. <\/p>\n

Writers and readers of poetry for young people have had no central space for connecting with one another and for exploring the incredible range of poetry for young people worldwide and throughout history. Exceptions include the amazing work of Sylvia Vardell<\/a><\/strong>, Morag Styles<\/a><\/strong>, Bernice Cullinan<\/a><\/strong>, Lee Bennett Hopkins<\/a><\/strong>, and a handful of others. <\/p>\n

I decided to create an online hub to attract poets and writers, artists and teachers, librarians and booksellers, publishers and scholars, and students and readers. Poetry Advocates for Children & Young Adults (PACYA<\/a><\/strong>) promotes an open exchange of ideas<\/a><\/strong> and encourages collaborative opportunities<\/a><\/strong>. Our primary focus is English-language poetry, but we are open to exploring poetry in translation and in other languages as well.<\/p>\n

People sometimes speak of poetry as though it were dead and in need of rebirth. I see poetry as very much alive\u2014and absolutely necessary for people of every age group.<\/p>\n

Jules<\/font><\/strong>: What is PACYA’s mission?<\/font><\/p>\n

Steven<\/font><\/strong>: We are a grassroots, nonprofit, global organization dedicated to:<\/p>\n