~Stacey D'Erasmo
Celebrating Irene's new book This Poem is a Nest today! Irene wrote a 37-line poem and then found 161 wee poems within it. An amazing feat! Another incredible thing about Irene's book is that every single word of her Nest poem is used in one of the nestlings. Every single one! I decided to see if I could make a zine from her book, and then make a zine with my own nestlings from another poem. What I found is that making nestlings is HARD!
Here are a few photos of the zine I made with Irene's book:
Here's a printable version of the zine I made. You can read about how to fold and cut them here.
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So then I wanted to see if I could find enough nestlings in a poem to make my own zine. I got a yen to try with someone else's poem first, so I gave it a shot with "Clap the Carers" by Jackie Kay:
I found:
I keep the best medicine
in the garden--
ten minutes of fresh air
and you.
But then I was stumped for others. Not enough to make a zine with! Next I want to try using my poem Celia Greets Us at the Island. Maybe I'll be able to come up with more :-)
Congratulations on a wonderful, inspiring book, Irene!
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Jone Rush MacCulloch has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Jone!
15 comments:
Dear Tab - thank you for finding poems and making this zine and sharing about this book! I love the quote, too, of course. So much that I"m now stealing it, as all poets do. Ha! The garden IS medicine, isn't it? Perfect. xo
Having just arrived here after reading Linda M's post about NEST, this is the perfect follow-up, T. Your zine is lovely and the nestling you found in Clap the Carers is simple, yet exquisite. I also followed the link to Celia Greets Us. That poem, too, is a breath of fresh air. Clearly I've missed a lot of wonderful writing over these few months of minding the home fires!
What a wonderful quote and how perfect to make a zine. Now I want to make one too!
I do love your zines, Tabatha! Irene's book is full beautiful nesting material for your creativity. :)
Whoa, how did Jackie Kay get through that without crying...?
Irene's new book sounds so wonderful. I have to order it.
This is just a gift wrapped in a present. I loved what you did with the first book, and thanks for sharing the Clap the Carers poem, and your own nestling - which is wonderful.
I also love that quote, Tabatha, and this time Irene has taken her bits for more lovely poems. And now you creating that lovely zine, for you & giving it all a try. Love the "Carers" poem. People do wonderful things in our world. Thanks for your caring, too.
I will definitely have to check out Irene's book. What a feat! I finally shared all my poetry swaps from summer on my blog. Thanks again for inviting me to participate!
Your post started off with a great quote. I loved what you did with your zine and hope to share it with teachers during PD workshops. It was fun going back to revisit your swap to Linda. I can't wait to read Irene's book and write a review of. There has been a good deal of buzz about it.
I am so excited to discover how this book works, and your nestling explorations only whet my appetite. Fun, looping links, as always!
I agree -- writing nestlings is HARD, but your poem "Celia Greets Us at the Island" is rich and full of potential!
"Clap the Carers" made me cry. But I think I needed that this morning, so thanks.
Making Zines with nestlings! Yes! I love this book and I, too, found writing nestlings a lot harder than it appears. I think those who are most brilliant make their brilliant thing seem easy.
I am waiting to see your nestlings from "Celia Greets Us at the Island".
What an intriguing idea. I am looking forward to getting The Poem is a Nest.
Thank you for the zine.
I am amazed by the spiraling creativity - how Irene cultivated more poems from her own work, inspiring yours with the zine. I think of an egg, nourishing life within, hatching and in turn laying more eggs - the creative cycle that keeps going and spawning and living. The writerly life. I love the D'Erasmo quote on writers being magpies, stealing bits for our nests. All part of welcoming and making something new that lives and breathes - verse that's alive, as Dickinson might say.
Love the quote, Tabatha, and your zine is terrific! How fun! I can't wait to read Irene's book.
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