Gift Tag, edited by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong
I love clever people.
I also love poetry.
Sylvia Vardell (professor and author) and Janet Wong (poet and author) are clever indeed. They created the "Kindleku" -- a poem that is no longer than 10 lines with no more than 25 characters (with spaces) per line. A poem of this size is easily viewed on a Kindle, even if the user has increased the type size for legibility. Ahem.
For their e-book Gift Tag, Vardell and Wong asked a pod of famous poets to select a photo from the Gift Tag photo blog, and write a Kindleku to match it. Each poem is preceded by a note from the poet, introducing the work or sharing the memory that prompted it.
Gift Tag is $1.99 on Amazon. On this cold, rainy day as I read poetry on my lunch break, I feel like the holidays are really here, after all.
If you prefer non-holiday poems, Vardell and Wong have two other e-book poetry collections that are variations on the "tag" concept.
This book would be a fun way to share poems with children or slide into the holiday spirit. The poems are tasty morsels of word candy, and I'm ready for more dessert!
Thanks to the blog Poetry at Play for the announcement and photo. Note: edited due to a change in the book's design.
I also love poetry.
Sylvia Vardell (professor and author) and Janet Wong (poet and author) are clever indeed. They created the "Kindleku" -- a poem that is no longer than 10 lines with no more than 25 characters (with spaces) per line. A poem of this size is easily viewed on a Kindle, even if the user has increased the type size for legibility. Ahem.
For their e-book Gift Tag, Vardell and Wong asked a pod of famous poets to select a photo from the Gift Tag photo blog, and write a Kindleku to match it. Each poem is preceded by a note from the poet, introducing the work or sharing the memory that prompted it.
Gift Tag is $1.99 on Amazon. On this cold, rainy day as I read poetry on my lunch break, I feel like the holidays are really here, after all.
If you prefer non-holiday poems, Vardell and Wong have two other e-book poetry collections that are variations on the "tag" concept.
This book would be a fun way to share poems with children or slide into the holiday spirit. The poems are tasty morsels of word candy, and I'm ready for more dessert!
Thanks to the blog Poetry at Play for the announcement and photo. Note: edited due to a change in the book's design.
Thanks so much, Keri! I'm so happy that you blogged our book, because it led me to your site--which I LOVE!
A note on the little tags: we actually decided to take them out of the book yesterday because we felt there's still fun mystery and more accurate poem-guessing without the tag clues. (You have an early version--now a collector's item!) Some of the photos still lead to WOW-surprises, like Margarita Engle's paragraph (drums inspiring a story about a h***e--not to spoil the surprise!).
Would love to know your favorite poems in the book! Mine change every day, but I think today's favorite is Joan Graham's poem about her neighbor who let her choose an orchid for the pennies she emptied from her pocket and said it was "just right." I doubt they would go for that at Best Buy!
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Hi Janet!
Thanks for dropping by! I heard from Amy this morning and edited the post to remove the section about the tags. It's an amazing aspect of e-books, this ability to substantially change the design after it's been "published" because something didn't have the anticipated effect.
I *loved* Joan Graham's poem -- it made me teary-eyed. What a lovely neighbor, and beautiful memory. When so much bad news bears down on us every day, it helps to remember that individuals can make a lasting impression simply by being kind.
I also love Amy Ludwig VanDerwater's snow poem. It led me to her blogs -- another gift!
Happy Thanksgiving and best of luck with Gift Tag!
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Yes, Amy's snow poem is terrific! So simple, but she really captures the excitement of those first flakes of snow falling down.
And, yes, making e-books is so much fun: an author can be spontaneous and take chances without worrying that the words are irrevocably imprinted on 10,000 books.
Happy celery-chopping, everyone!
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