And who better to celebrate on the Day of the Book than Jane Yolen--who has penned more than 300 titles in multiple genres, for multiple age levels, which have been translated in multiple languages. Family has always been a central focus of Jane's life; she was unabashedly in love with her husband, and she's always blended her writing into her role as a mother, which is one of the reasons I have always followed her career so closely. She's one of us! And now that two of her children are writers and one a photographer, she's collaborating on creative projects with them--something I hope I'll have the chance to do with my sons someday. Despite her status as one of the world's bestselling authors, Jane is one of the most approachable writers I know--generous with her time and expertise, and always encouraging to aspiring writers and fans of her books. Her nonfiction guide to writing, Take Joy, is one of my favorite books to recommend.
2010 Poetry Parade: Day 23
Carrying On Carrying On
by
Jane Yolen
When life is a blevit of failure and grief
We carry on carrying on.
When life is so tres, even nothing’s relief,
We carry on carrying on.
When things of the future are things of the past,
When death is before us and first is the last,
When everything comes as a TNT blast,
We carry on carrying on.
When all the mananas are dwindling down,
When slips on bananas are tattered and brown,
When it’s too hard to smile and much simpler to frown
We carry on carrying on.
I’ll carry on you, if you’ll carry on me
On a tres filled with sorrow, and crackers and brie.
And the only thing tres-er is so tres jollie
That we carry on carrying on.
Printed by permission of the author.
©2009 by Jane Yolen.
First publication in Miss Rumphius Effect.
All rights reserved.
1 comment:
There’s only a handful of children’s writers that I would wait on a long line to meet and greet because I hate lines. Two really gifted writers pop to mind, Jane Yolen (the Hans Chrstian Anderson of America) and Steven Kellogg, children’s writer and illustrator extraordinaire. For several years I have, now and then, emailed Jane Yolen some of my favorite quotes, knowing that we haven’t been introduced. I had this daydream where she googled my name and became interested in me as a poet. And, now, we are part of the same Poetry Parade! Wow! As for Steven Kellogg, I met him twice in the 70s when he visited my elementary school. I daydreamed that someday we both would be selling books at the same book festival in Rochester, New York. That fantasy came true in November 2009 the local college. Photos of us are at http://www.consideration.org/sottile/photos/2009dec/last-seen.html. Carry on with your dreams!
Post a Comment