Poetry Contest for Young Writers

Kelly Bingham, young adult author of the new book, Shark Girl, is offering a poetry contest for teen writers.

Shark Girl is a young adult novel about a girl whose arm is bitten off in a shark attack. The novel is told in verse along with phone conversations and letters. The letters are one of the most striking aspect of the novel. Often the letters are from “well-wishers” who don’t know Jane but saw her story on the news. We see through Jane’s eyes that, often, the letters are very intrusive such as the one from the boy who wants to interview Jane about her experience for a school project. And yet at other times, the letters provide hope such as the one from Mary who calls her prosthetic arm, Patty. A brilliant model for using letters with purpose in crafting a story!

Denney Youth Poetry–Call It Courage–I’m Sorry

 Teen Boy

 

I’M SORRY

 

 

If I were to die today, I would want to tell my Grandma I love her for raising me the best she could. I would tell her it’s not her fault that I ended up in here. I would tell her that she meant the world to me and I would try my hardest to do whatever she wanted. But now that I look back on it, I haven’t tried my hardest to help her or do what she says, so I would tell her I’m sorry.

 

 

 

 

Denney Youth Poetry–Call it Courage–When I Was Young

Teen Boy

 

WHEN I WAS YOUNG

 

 

When I was young, I was a good kid

who got good grades.

Now I’m in Drug Court trying to get straight.

 

When I was young, I did so well in school

I never got Detention.

Now I’m sitting in Juvenile Detention.

 

When I was little, I did so well.

Now I’m struggling to get off the junk.

 

 

Denney Youth Call It Courage Poetry–I Am From Nothing

Teen Girl

I AM FROM NOTHING

 

 

I am from nothing.

A hole in the wall

An unnoticed fly on the ceiling

I am from deception

A never-ending circle of flies

A knife in the back of a friend

 
I am from perversion

The look on a man’s face

as he steals the innocence of a child.

 

I am from nothing

But I will not BE nothing.

 

 

 

 

 

Writing Poetry with Youth In Juvenile Detention

It’s National Poetry month which gives me an “in” to blog about facilitating a poetry workshop with youth in juvenile detention.

Once a week, I spend two hours writing and sharing poetry with youth who are in jail. During that two hours, I spend an hour with a unit of girls–usually about 10-12 girls. And a unit of boys–usually about 10-12 boys. In that hour we write poems about our life experiences.

Last spring, The Miller Trust hired me to be a writer/mentor to individual kids. The Miller Trust also published the youth’s poetry in a collection called, Call it Courage.

I’ve posted a couple of the poems and I’m going to let the kids speak for themselves about the power of this work. Although, I originally started running the poetry workshop as a “trial” basis, it quickly became the most important work that I do as a writer.

Blog Recommendations

One of the nice parts about blogs and the internet is it’s possible to get information that might not otherwise have been available.

For example, editors and agents who blog.

Two of my favorite editor blogs are:

Buried in the Slush Pile--Madeline Smoot, Senior editor for Blooming Tree Press.

Brookyln Arden–Cheryl Klein, editor at Arthur A. Levine. Also noteworthy is Cheryl’s website which posts her talks about writing.

Both of these blogs have interesting tidbits about the craft of writing along with the business of writing. I highly recommend reading both on a regular basis. You’ll learn a lot about what each one of them looks for in submissions and about the writing business in general!