Irene Latham's Blog, page 164

WHAT STAYS WITH YOU LATEST AND DEEPEST?

This week I read UNBROKEN by Laura Hillenbrand.


It's an excellent book, and as is often the case with excellent books, I found poetry in those pages -- starting with the epigraph that opens the book, which is taken from an actual poem:

What stays with you latest and deepest? of curious panics,
Of hard-fought engagements or sieges tremendous what deepest remains?

- Walt Whitman, "The Wound-Dresser"

(complete poem here)

It's a great question, isn't it?

I think every poem we write should answer that question.


For more poetic thoughts and verse, visit Poetry Friday Roundup with David at FOMOGRAMS.

MEET BELLE, THE LAST MULE AT GEE'S BEND

For Book Talk Tuesday, I want to talk about this wonderful picture book BELLE, THE LAST MULE AT GEE'S BEND by Calvin Alexander Ramsey and Bettye Stroud, with illustrations by John Holyfield.

Being a Gee's Bend groupie, I'm completely biased and knew before I read it that I would love this one. While it is not set during the Depression as is my novel LEAVING GEE'S BEND, it still captures many of the Gee's Bend characteristics that I fell in love with: quilts, of course. People who are strong and inspiring. And yes, a mule.

In LEAVING GEE'S BEND, there is also a mule. Her name is Delilah. She and Belle must have been related. But actually, the character in LEAVING GEE'S BEND that Belle has the most in common with is Ludelphia.

Strong, I tell you. Stubborn. With hearts that bulge that goodness.

Please add this lovely little book to your shelves and pull it out any time, but particularly during February. Pair it with STITCHIN' AND PULLIN' by Patricia McKissack with illustrations by Cozbi A Cabrera.

For a more complete review, see The Examiner's review.

Happy Reading, and don't forget to visit Kelly at the Lemme Library for other Book Talks!

FIVE FOR FRIDAY

1. I have quilts to share:

This one I am completely in love with. And these are not colors I would typically choose. They aren't in my fashion palette. But for some reason they feel like ME right now. So I'm using this one on my side of the bed. :)

That centerpiece in this one? It's from a pillow my mom made for me when I was 13 years old. When I found it in my basement, it was all slobber-stained and butter-smooth from lots of use. And now it's in a cute little quilt I use to cover my legs while I write in the recliner by the window.

2. I'm training for the 2012 Mercedes Marathon. No, I am not a runner. But I love having goals. And I don't have great aspirations -- as long as I come in before the balloon lady (she sets the ending pace of 6 hours), I will be one happy gal.

3. I got some really good poetry news this week. Will share as soon as I am able! Meanwhile, don't miss Poetry Friday Roundup with Mary Ann at Great Kids Books.

4. I'm retreating this weekend with some dear writer friends, and man, do I have some work to do on the wip. I'm ready!

5. It's family picture time, and when I asked the boys what color we should wear, two of them said, at the very same time, "purple." Jinx!! They were shocked when I actually came home later from Kohl's with a bag full of purple shirts! Will post. :)

Happy Weekend, everyone!

FAIRY DUST FOR WRITERS

...check out my post over at Smack Dab in the Middle, a blog written by a band of authors who write for the middle-grade audience.

Prepare to be inspired (to be inspired)!
(Read it. You'll see.)

Happy Monday!

FROM YOUR LOVER: THE NIGHT CIRCUS AND EVERYTHING

You've got to read these three books:

If you are in the mood for a decades long love affair, THE LAST LETTER FROM YOUR LOVER by Jojo Moyes

If you want to feel dark and sensual and magical, THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern

and if you want to stir up the brain juices and be a little bit creeped out while being in awe of the writing, THE END OF EVERYTHING by Megan Abbott

And if you've read any of these, I would lovelovelove to hear your thoughts! And big thanks to the amazing and effervescent Ashley Parsons for steering me in good book directions. Again. You rock!

OUR TRIP IN EIGHT SENTENCES

We visited Charles Lindbergh's home in Park Rapids, Minnesota.

Ludelphia rode a buffalo.

We saw a delightful and unexpected "apron" exhibit at Hubbard County Historical Museum.

We visited Lake Itasca State Park in Minnesota (gorgeous!) and walked across the headwaters of the Mississippi River. (bonus sentence and a promise: I'm using this as a metaphor in a poem about the importance/unimportance and slippery nature of the "beginning" of things.)

We were t-boned in Detroit Lakes, Michigan, and had to leave my father's probably-totalled car behind (which caused all kinds of chaos, I mean new adventures).

I got to meet the Book Club and wonderful children's librarian Traci Juhala at Bismarck Veterans Memorial Public Library.

Eric got to spend some quality time at the shooting range with a gun collector and expert who happens to be a good friend of my father's.

We admired the prehistoric life at the Bismarck airport to distract us from being sad about saying goodbye. (Bonus sentence #2 and #3: But oh my, we were SAD. Sigh.)

GREETINGS FROM THE PRAIRIE LANDS

Oh, North Dakota, how I love thee!

We are here in the land of wind and grass and good people (via Minnesota where we visited Charles Lindbergh's home and the headwaters of the Mississippi River) visiting my father, who lives in Bismarck.

This afternoon and evening I will be sharing about my adventures with Ludelphia and LEAVING GEE'S BEND to kids and adults at Bismarck Public Library. And I will probably slip in a couple of my Dakota-inspired poems like "How the Sacagawea River Got Its Name" and "After One Thousand Miles the Road Rises" (from my book THE COLOR OF LOST ROOMS).

I'll be back with a full report (and pictures!) early next week. Oh, and perhaps I'll say a few words about the excellent books I've been reading: THE LAST LETTER FROM YOUR LOVER by Jojo Moyes, THE END OF EVERYTHING by Megan Abbott, CLEOPATRA'S MOON by Vicki Alvear Schecter and THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern. Good stuff! I hope your week has brought you lots of goodness too. xo

WHEN LYNN COMES TO TOWN

We smile a lot.

We whisper.

We watch our kids play.

We remember.

WHY OUR CHILDREN NEED ROCKY ROADS AND THUNDERSTORMS

How else is a person to grow, if not for blisters and throbbing and that feeling of I can't go on--- and yet still finding a way to go on?

How can one learn just how fast she can actually run or what it feels like to be warm and loved and wanted if she has never had to run, if she has never been cold and wet and hungry?

Consider John Irving's epigraph at the beginning of A WIDOW FOR ONE YEAR, which is one of my favorite epigraphs EVER:

"...as for this little lady
the best thing I can wish for her is
a little misfortune."

- William Makepeace Thackeray

And this NYT article entitled "What is the Secret to Success is Failure?"

As hard as it is to let our fledglings fall, we need to let them. It's the only way they'll learn to fly. (Writers: this goes for characters too!)

SEPTEMBER QUILTING UPDATE

So it's September, and I have officially completed 11 quilts for 2011! Which means I have my 2011 Quilt A Month Challenge well in hand.

These three are all gifts for friends, each of them lap-sized cuddle quilts.

This one I've been calling the "shoe" quilt, because it uses lots of shoe pattern prints. Isn't it FUN?

I love this one because who isn't happy when they see yellow and blue? It's very old-fashioned with the 9 patch pattern, and I used an old super-soft bed sheet as backing, so it even FEELS old. Love!

And this one has a horse theme, although it is hard to tell in this picture. One of the prints is white with tiny blue horses. It's also backed in an old super-soft be sheet and feels old-fashioned and warm to me.

I've got two more tops already pieced, which will put my count to 13 for the year... one is for ME, and I'll tell you why when I can share a pic of it all quilted and everything. And the other has orange and red tones, and I am completely in love with it! It's a gift-quilt. Will share very soon.