Hi, friends. Other than helping with the Winter Poetry Swap, I’ve been away from Poetry Friday for a few months. I’ve been busy mentoring a family who fled Afghanistan in August — a husband, wife, and their two little boys. The good news is, through the writing community, we helped them find housing! This time […]
Original Poem
Thursday, 18 November 2021
Thursday, 19 August 2021
This is a post about dogs. You’ve all gotten to know the Shovan family dogs over the years — anxious Sam the schnauzer and his very best friend, Rudy the (goofy, lovable) beagle. But it’s also a post about poetry. I am a huge fan of Laura Purdie Salas‘ A Leaf Can Be series of […]
Thursday, 1 July 2021
Welcome, poets and poetry fans. Poetry Friday is here this week. You’ll find the link-up at the bottom of this post. One of the last trips I made before the Covid-19 lockdown was to Tallahassee, Florida. My friend, poet Michael Rothenberg, took me to a magical spot, Wakulla Springs. During a boat tour of the […]
Thursday, 20 May 2021
Today, the Poetry Friday community is celebrating Mary Lee Hahn’s retirement from teaching! Many years ago, I was lucky enough to visit and spend a little time with Mary Lee’s class. I loved watching her interact with her students. From that visit–and Mary Lee’s beautiful, vulnerable posts about striving to learn and grow as an […]
Thursday, 14 January 2021
Poetry Friday friends, do you remember the early days of the pandemic, when toilet paper was scarce? I remember sitting in the bathroom crying (everything made me cry at the beginning of the pandemic) as I counted squares, rationing TP against the potential disaster. I had to laugh when I saw that my friend Pat […]
Thursday, 10 December 2020
Happy Hanukkah, Poetry Friday friends. Our family’s celebration is bittersweet this year. Although 2020 had its joyful moments, we also experienced several transformative losses during the pandemic. Last week, we had to say goodbye to one of our dogs after an unexpected medical emergency. Many of you knew our beagle, Rudy, through my Poetry Friday […]
Thursday, 12 November 2020
Hey, poets and readers. Quick post this week. I am working on a guest article for the website Reading Rockets. It’s going to be all about books … and dogs. Of course, I have to include a few dog poems. During the pandemic, Sam (the Schnauzer) and Rudy (the Beagle) have been joining me on […]
Thursday, 1 October 2020
It’s October, Poetry Friday friends. Poet Irene Latham is on my mind this week. I hosted a stop on her THIS POEM IS A NEST blog tour, and even tried writing a nestling. You can read that post here. It’s October first as I write this, and Irene + Octo = her wonderful book, Love, […]
Thursday, 10 September 2020
Happy Poetry Friday, everyone! Now that A PLACE AT THE TABLE has launched, I am working on a new middle grade novel. This one is in verse (at least for now). The floods that destroyed the historic street near our old house is part of this book’s story. Also incorporated into my WIP — memories […]
Thursday, 9 July 2020
It’s Poetry Friday. I’ve been away from my desk for several weeks because of a death in our family. The global pandemic has affected how we grieve, because it affects how we gather … or don’t. It has been difficult to say goodbye without friends and family around. Our family is finding solace in our […]
Laura Shovan is the author of the award-winning middle grade novel, The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary. Her second book, Takedown, is a Junior Library Guild and PJ Our Way selection. Look for A Place at the Table, co-written with Saadia Faruqi, in 2020. Laura is a poet-in-the-schools Maryland.
