Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Girl Who Goes Alone

Today I am going alone to read poems to 3-5 year-old pre-schoolers! From this big Golden Book of Poetry.

But The Girl Who Goes it Alone is really Elizabeth Austen, whose chapbooks I recently reviewed for Fiddler Crab Review, an online journal entirely dedicated to the chapbook (current, recent, or past!).

Austen's good news is a new book, Every Dress a Decision (Blue Begonia Press), and a feature about it on ArtZone, a Seattle arts program on television.  You can watch it here and, as she says in her own blog, her segment starts at 1:50, but I also enjoyed seeing the paintings of the visual artist just before that.  It's a fun program all around.

Elizabeth, who used to work in the theatre, reads her poetry beautifully!

And if you haven't yet seen the owl and pussycat video on youtube, here's that, too. (Brief ad precedes the animal play.)

"The Owl and the Pussycat" (pictured above on The Golden Book of Poetry) is by Edward Lear, and it rhymes!

6 comments:

Maureen said...

Wonderful review of a marvelous poet, Kathleen. Austen has a terrific reader's voice for poetry.

Martha Silano said...

I love Elizabeth's work, and her reading voice, too. I am lucky enough to be reading with her this fall in Seattle at a little bookstore called Ravenna Third Place Books. It's great to have such a fine poet nearby enough to share the stage with. I wish you were here to go out for cupcakes beforehand!!

Kathleen said...

Maureen and Martha, thanks for stopping in to comment on this wonderful poet. Oh, Martha, I do wish I could a-cupcaking with you!

Collagemama said...

Have a delightful time with the 3 to 5s. I grew up with the Golden Treasury of Poetry, edited by Louis Untermeyer, and still read from it to my students.

Marcoantonio Arellano (Nene) said...

Kathleen, thank you for introducing me to Elizabeth Austen. She is wonderful. I like her approach at creating and writing and enjoy her clearity.

Once again, thanks for your on going sharing and my personal conduit to people and arts to which I would otherwise not become aware.

Kathleen said...

Nene, happy to introduce you to new poets out there!

Nancy, the children were so wonderful! This is an "at risk" set of preschoolers/kindergarteners getting ready for kindergarten at other public schools, and they are dears, often handling some tough circumstances in their lives. The teachers are marvelous, caring, energetic, and, no doubt, exhausted by the end of each day. I know I was!