Thursday, February 23, 2017

Check out this wonderful conversation between Nikki Grimes and Kwame Alexander on the Power of Poetry

It's a wonderful discussion, shared with us at Publishers Weekly...



We learn about The Golden Shovel form of poetry, hear the latest on Kwame and Nikki's books coming out and in-the-pipeline, and hear them speak from the heart on the power of hope and poetry.

Two standout moments:

"...if you want to have something authentic and powerful to write about, you have to live an authentic, empowering life. I learned that from my parents, from my mentors like Nikki Giovanni, from writers, in particular black writers, who always believed that writing is just a tool to carve out our dreams." -Kwame Alexander

and

"The Harlem Renaissance poets were always writing with a larger intent than mere entertainment. Their work might have been—is— entertaining along the way, but that was never the point of the poetry. The poetry was about encouragement, about uplift, about planting seeds of hope. I am all about hope. It is the one thread I repeatedly use to stitch all my poems and stories together. " -Nikki Grimes 

The whole article is well worth reading!

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

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