Monday, March 18, 2024

Thoughts on Poetry

RHYS BOWEN : I love the book Possession by Byatt, don’t you? It’s an absolute tour de force, especially the way she has created a whole body of poetry for two fictitious poets in the style of Tennyson and Christina Rosetti.

 Back in the day poetry was a big thing. There were court poets in the Middle Ages who lived well thanks to rich patrons. Homer was a celebrity. Everyone knew Keats and Shelley and Lord Byron. And Tennyson –he was even made a lord for his poetry. And Longfellow. So what has happened to us today? Why have we lost our love of poetry? The closest we have to poet celebrities is Leonard Cohen, who set his poems to music, perhaps Mary Oliver, although I doubt the average person has heard of her.

 We no longer value poetry, do we?. A poet can certainly not make a good living. Nobody goes to college and says “I’m going to be a poet,” without their parents tearing their hair out.

Why is this, I wonder.

 Maybe it’s because poetry was designed to be spoken aloud, and modern poets try to be too clever and esoteric:

 Stars at night

Falling. Boom. Crash. Thud.

Like stricken bodies

Into my tea cup

Why?

 (that’s not a real poem. I just made it up, but you get the gist) It creates an idea, a picture, a fleeting thought, but then it’s gone.

How many of us had to learn poems by heart in school?

 On either side the rive lie

Fields of barley and of rye

That clothe the world and meet the sky

And all the day the folk go by

To many towered Camelot…. 

 I can still recite so many of them: The Ancient Mariner, Hiawatha, The Forsaken Merman, lots of Robert Louis Stevenson and of course Shakespeare.

And do you know what? They all rhymed. They were all easy and fun to speak out loud.

 That is what we’ve lost. My great aunts used to recite poetry during evening soirees. So we’ve lost the occasions to do this. And perhaps the poets are still here, but they’ve put their poetry to music: Bob Dylan, Lennon and McCartney, Steven Sondheim…

 I don't think children learn poetry in school and longer. Only English majors will ever discover Keats, or Longfellow. Children will never sit in the back of cars chanting:

 Faster than fairies faster than witches,

Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches,

Riding along like troops in a battle

All through the meadows, the horses and cattle…

 I loved it. I miss it.  I’d be a poet if I could make a living at it. My mother tells me that I wrote my first poem at 4.

I used to write lots of poetry in my teens. I'd sit in a darkened room, put a Tchaikovsky record on the radiogram and let my heart outpour. Come to think of it, many of them didn't rhyme either: But some did:

Sit, a stone, and survey

Until love and life pass away

Rest, a rock on the shore,

Until faith and death 

are no more.

Then, as a new moon, alone

Arise and face the unknown.

They were all pretty bleak and sad at that time, I think. i was a huge fan of Gerard Manley Hopkins.

So share your thoughts, dear Reds

Do you miss poetry? Did you have to learn it? Did you ever write any. What can we do to bring it back

HALLIE EPHRON: Goodness yes, I had to memorize poems in elementary school. Remember “Barare Frietchie?” (“Shoot, if you must, this old gray head,/

But spare your country’s flag,” she said.) “Evangeline.” (“This the forest primeval…)

And then the ones I memorized just because I read them so many times and liked the way they sounded. (e. e. Cummings -anyone lived in a pretty how town. / (with up so floating many bells down)...

That’s the thing about poetry - so much of it is meant to be spoken and listened to. Though I confess a lot of poetry leaves me scratching my head and wondering what I’m missing. Is it ok to say that?  

JENN McKINLAY: I love poetry! WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS was published when I was a kid and I memorized so many Shel Silverstein poems. They were charming and clever and just delightful. Also, I grew up in New England so memorizing Emily Dickinson felt like a requirement.

I do believe poetry is alive and well in the younger generations. My nephew is a poet and writes and performs in poetry slams in local Boston coffee shops. When I was a teen librarian we hosted slams for teens by an outfit called Phonetic Spit. Some of the poems were angry, others broke your heart, and a few really made you think but the best part was that it was all written and performed by teens who’d discovered the use of poetry to deal with life’s joys and sorrows and it was wonderful. Also, we have Amanda Gorman’s The Hill We Climb bringing poetry to a new generation, which is terrific. I think poetry, like music, has changed in tone and style over time but it’s still there and it’s still relevant and I don’t believe it will ever disappear completely. 

LUCY BURDETTE: I’m always envious of fiction writers that began as poets because I feel they have a better grasp of how to use language beautifully. My prose is more workmanlike than poetic. However, I will share something that makes me laugh when I think about it. I set my second book, DEATH IN FOUR COURSES, at a conference for food writers and one of the characters was a “culinary poet.” After the victim is found, they have a small wake-ish event and the poet is called upon to read. I had such fun writing this:

Fritz pushed his glasses to his forehead, unfolded a half sheet of lined paper, and smoothed it on the podium. He studied his audience with pale blue eyes, then turned his attention to the paper.

“The Butcher,” he said. “A poem to honor Jonah Barrows.”

 “Morning comes, the butcher’s wife hands him an apron, starched white.

Keep it clean, she says.

At night, he brings it home, layered with the detritus of his day.

A splash of blood from the rib eye steaks carved for the rich man on the hill.

A touch of green from lobsters cracked and cleaned for the fussy housewife,

Who will eat pink flesh but not green, no matter how good it tastes.

Marrow from hacked bones,

Distributed to fancy restaurants and slathering dogs alike.

And as the day goes by, the hues of the apron morph from red to gray.

I tried, he says, handing it to the missus come evening. I had to do my work.”

RHYS: I love this, Lucy!

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Rhys, I adored Possession. I read it in one sitting–literally, on a ten-hour London to Dallas flight–and was just blown away. It definitely influenced me to write Dreaming of the Bones (in which I, like Lucy above, included poetry.) It was poetry that started me writing as a teen, in fact, and I read a lot. e.e. cummings, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, TS Eliot, Ezra Pound (why, I ask now!), Auden, Plath, Stevie Smith, Anne Sexton, Larkin, Wallace Stevens. And of course my beloved Dylan Thomas. I was never as good at memorizing, however, except for William Blake, who is forever engraved in my brain!

I hope poetry isn't lost! I think that exposure to language opens pathways in the brain that otherwise don't develop, and that makes our lives and our thinking so much richer and more nuanced. 

You've encouraged me to get back to my "poem a day" practice!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Yes, I have a poem a day, too! I’m Yeats, Auden, Wallace Stevens. I had the honor of reading Czieslaw Milosz’s “On Angels” at my father's funeral, and highly recommend it as a source of peace and inspiration and wonder.  And, with a name like mine, I constantly think of Robert Frost's “Maple,” which begins sweetly, about a girl named Maple who everyone thinks is “Mabel,” and her search for her mother’s meaning in naming her before she died in childbirth,  and ends with a bitter twist.  

Thus had a name with meaning, given in death,

Made a girl's marriage, and ruled in her life.

No matter that the meaning was not clear.

A name with meaning could bring up a child,

Taking the child out of the parents' hands.

Better a meaningless name, I should say,

As leaving more to nature and happy chance.

Name children some names and see what you do.

(Maybe we should all remember this when we name our characters…)


RHYS: So who are your favorite poets?  I still adore Robert Frost, Auden, Walt Whitman, Mary Oliver, Keats... 



Sunday, March 17, 2024

Vicki, Donna, Trixie, and Cherry

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: It was so much fun to chat with you all and the Reds and Readers happy hour on Thursday! And we are planning our next event right now. We'll let you know the date, and the winners are being chosen. Thank you so much for being there.

 


One of the things I loved about our discussion was the chat about the books we read when we were what, pre-teenagers?  Cherry Ames, and Trixie Belden, and of course Nancy Drew, but also Donna Parker and Vicki Barr. (These are on my bookshelf in my study. And the ones below, too.)

 

Wikipedia says: Vicki Barr is a popular mystery series for girls published by Grosset & Dunlap from 1947 to 1964. Helen Wells (1910–1986) wrote volumes #1-4 and 9-16, and Julie Campbell Tatham (1908–1999), the creator of Trixie Belden, wrote volumes #5-8.

 

Donna Parker is the protagonist of an eponymous seven-volume book series for girls that was written by Marcia Levin under the pseudonym Marcia Martin from the 1950s through the 1960s.

 

Cherry Ames is the central character in a series of 27 mystery novels with hospital settings published by Grosset & Dunlap between 1943 and 1968. Helen Wells (1910-1986) wrote volumes #1-7 and #17-27, and Julie Campbell Tatham (1908-1999), the creator of Trixie Belden, wrote volumes #8-16. Wells also created the Vicki Barr series. 

 


Hmm, Julie Campbell Tathham really changed our lives, right? And little did we know.

 

Julie Campbell Tatham (June 1, 1908 – July 7, 1999) was an American writer of children's novels, who also wrote for adults, especially on Christian Science. As Julie Campbell she was the creator of the Trixie Belden series (she wrote the first six) and the Ginny Gordon series. As Julie Tatham she also took over the Cherry Ames series and Vicki Barr series from Helen Wells.


 




Why did we love them? Here’s a page from Trixie Belden and The Mysterious Code. See how it starts with an inciting incident?


 

In Cherry Ames, Chief Nurse, Cherry gets her new assignment on page 8.





But “flight stewardess” Vicki Barr, who is about to embark on The Hidden Valley Mystery,  is all backstory and background...until chapter two.


 

So much fun to go back and look at these!  Did you read this kind of book? Why do you think we loved them so much? Which ones did you read?

Saturday, March 16, 2024

HOT OFF THE PRESSES


HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Hurray! You know how much we love debut authors here on Jungle Red, and we are so thrilled to give a standing ovation to the fabulous Christina Estes, an intrepid experienced reporter who finally, after years, took the big step into fiction.

 

I can tell you, Reds and readers, her debut novel OFF THE AIR is a must read--and a perfect beginning for a series. A winner in every way! (And all of you who wonder: do I need to start at the beginning of the series? Christina makes it easy, because this is book 1!) The iconic and revered JA Jance says “it's a tale that demonstrates how behind the smiling faces of TV anchors, covering the big story is a dog eat dog world.”

 

And today, Christina gives us the inside scoop. And breaking news: a copy of OFF THE AIR  to one very lucky reader! Enter once here with a comment, and you can get a second entry by coming to the Reds and Readers Facebook page and commenting on the post there, too!

 


HANK: Have you always wanted to be a mystery writer? How and why did that start? 

 


CHRISTINA ESTES: I remember being young and some adult asking, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

 

Since I devoured books, I would answer, “An author.”

 

But I never met an author and didn’t know anyone who pursued writing as a career. My love of reading included magazines and newspapers and I was exposed to reporters on TV and the radio, and that led me to study journalism.

 

J.A. Jance’s Ali Reynolds series, about a former L.A. newscaster who moves back home to northern Arizona, planted the seed for my writing. Hank’s Jane Ryland series about a Boston reporter helped it grow. Or at least helped me contemplate the idea of writing a series featuring a Phoenix TV reporter. It would be many years before I became serious about writing.

 

HANK: When did you decide that you were really and truly going to seriously write a novel? It’s such a big step – – what made you take it? 

 

CHRISTINA: In 2009, I said, “I’m going to write a book.” And, fifteen years later, I’m being published. Fifteen years!

 

I naively thought that because I’m a reporter and write every day that I could write a novel. Big mistake. There’s a huge difference between writing a thirty-second or three-minute broadcast story and a 300- page novel.

 

There was a lot of writing, rejection, stopping. More writing, rejection, stopping. You get the picture. I went years without writing. That’s not how you get published.

 

When I finally accepted that I didn’t know how to write a novel, I focused on learning (and I’m still learning) and got serious. I started saying ‘No’ to a lot of things in order to prioritize writing. It will not take 15 years to get published again! 

 

HANK Makes sense! And of course. Butwhat happened to make you finish this time?

 

CHRISTINA: There was no ‘aha’ moment that I recall. I just felt more committed. I wanted to see it through and figured I would give it my all one more time. Fortunately, perseverance paid off because Off the Air was selected for the Tony Hillerman Prize and I received a publishing contract through Minotaur Books.

 

HANK: What idea sparked this particular novel? The ONE thing you wanted to write about?

 

CHRISTINA: Besides taking readers behind the scenes of local news, I wanted to showcase Phoenix. I remember reading J.A. Jance’s first Ali Reynolds novel years ago and practically squealing with delight at the local references. There are so many great series set in cities like Boston, New York, Minneapolis, Chicago and Los Angeles, and I want to read more set in the city I call home.

 

The theme that kept swirling as I wrote centered on recognition. We all need it. People leave jobs and relationships when they don't feel valued. In the case of Jolene, my main character, she gets the acknowledgment she craves by breaking stories. Part of her desire for recognition comes from her upbringing, which she doesn’t yet realize or chooses not to accept.

 

HANK: So—do you blend fact and fiction in this novel? Do you use your real-life reporting experiences as a basis for your story?

 

CHRISTINA: I include references to two stories I covered as a reporter. The first involved residents who gathered to celebrate the demolition of an abandoned restaurant that had become an eyesore and attracted criminal activity. I changed the restaurant’s name but kept the party details – neighbors really did bring balloons and sparkling grape juice to cheer the demolition.

 


The other story relates to my personal experience being nominated for an Emmy for reporting about a fish going to the dentist. It lost to a story about bubble wrap. Yes, bubble wrap! In the book, it is Jolene’s loss. It’s interesting to hear reactions to that vignette. Some readers relate to Jolene’s disappointment, while others laugh.

 

HANK:  A fish going to the dentist? You must tell us about this in the comments.  How did the book change from how it was when you began? How did it become different—darker, bigger, scarier, more thought-provoking, deeper?  What did you learn?

 

CHRISTINA: My main character initially had a different name and backstory. I was writing about the 29-year-old TV reporter that I wish I had been. I needed a character with some rough edges, a character that I cared about and could root for.

 

I created Jolene’s backstory based on my experience as a former foster parent. It was uncomfortable because I didn’t want to cause pain for anyone who had experience in the child welfare system. It’s a big reason why I included a content advisory in the book. I love Jolene. I know some people will say, “She’s a character, not a person” and they would be right. But Jolene feels real to me.

 

HANK: One of the most difficult things in having a new novel is that you need the elevator pitch! So here we go… Tell us about this book!

 


CHRISTINA: I’m glad you asked because I need to practice for Good Morning America. Off the Air will be their Buzz Pick on March 30 and I get to pitch via video. Here’s what I’m thinking:

 

Off the Air introduces Jolene Garcia, a local TV reporter in Phoenix trying to cover real issues in a society that seems more interested in clicks and reels.

 

When a controversial radio talk show host dies on air, Jolene’s managers are ecstatic because she conducted his last interview. They’ve got the advantage – but not for long. National media descend on Arizona with bigger budgets and better scoops. Jolene is determined to solve this murder. It’s an investigation that could make or break her career—if it doesn’t break her first.

 

HANK: YAY! Massive congratulations on GMA. I absolutely love this book, it was surprising and wise and knowledgeable and fast paced and fun to read. How do you hope  people will feel at the end of it? 

 

CHRISTINA: Thank you, Hank. I hope readers feel entertained and are curious about what’s next for Jolene personally and professionally. A sequel is in the works!

 

HANK: Hurray!  And cannot wait to hear about all of your adventures. SUCH a joy to have a debut novel, and we are cheering you from the reds room!  So, Reds and readers, let’s talk TV.  Do you have a favorite television reporter? Past or present, fictional or real?

 


And a copy of the hot-off-the-presses OFF THE AIR  to one lucky commenter!


Remember, you get another entry by commenting on the Reds and Readers page!

 

 

 

 

 

Emmy award-winning reporter Christina Estes received the Tony Hillerman Prize for Best First Mystery Set in the Southwest. Off the Air is the first in a series featuring a local TV reporter. Having worked for several local TV stations, Christina now reports for the NPR member station in Phoenix.

www.christinaestes.com

https://www.facebook.com/ChristinaEstesAuthor/

@reporterestes on Instagram, X/Twitter, Threads