Nest Building (Panasonic Lumix DC-ZS200) By Sage Millen, 13 (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), published in Stone Soup June 2022 A note from Emma I want to start off this week’s newsletter with some good news and congratulations: Anya Geist’s novel, Born on the First of Two, was selected as a finalist in the 2022 Next Generation Indie Book Awards in the Young Author (Under 25) category. We are so proud of Anya and thrilled this wonderful novel is getting some recognition. Take this as a reminder to add Anya’s book to your summer reading list, and to be on the lookout for new copies with the finalist sticker on the cover! This also reminded me that I have been meaning to share a bit of book news with you all for some time now. In addition to my work as editor of Stone Soup and as a writer, I also work with high school students on their college application essays. And last spring, I published The Complete College Essay Handbook, a practical guide to writing college essays that I co-wrote with my colleague. Writing a practical guide was fun, and also more challenging than I expected. The most rewarding part (aside from being done, hah!) was that putting my process and advice down on paper not only reinforced what I already knew but actually pushed me to refine and improve our process. Writing remains the most powerful I know for thinking through ideas and improving upon them–whether they are the loftiest or the most trivial. Anyway, I am proud of the book and ask you to please consider recommending it to any teenage friends or relatives about to embark on this process, or to any high school English teachers or counselors you may know. Finally, since the subject of this newsletter has been books, I want to take the opportunity to remind you all that our 2022 Book Contest is still open for submissions. It closes on the 22nd of August. I know many of you began your books weeks ago, but if you are still interested–it’s not too late to start working on one to submit this year. We always focus on the fact that good writing takes time and multiple drafts. And sometimes it does. But sometimes it comes very quickly, and that doesn’t make it less or worse than something that takes more time! “First thought, best thought,” as Allen Ginsberg used to say. More than once, I have written something quickly then revised it and revised it, only to realize after a few months that the first draft was the better version. (I am not against revision by any means; many times, I have had the reverse experience–of completely rewriting in revision.) So, for those of you who are curious and excited at the possibility of writing a book–it’s not too late! Happy writing! Anthropology of the Everyday: The Art of Creative Nonfiction, June 13-16 with Laura Moran Do you like writing about your life experiences? Would you like to learn some techniques for making your nonfiction writing more compelling and creative? In this class you will learn a method of personal writing, sometimes used by anthropologists, that combines storytelling with writing about the details of your own everyday life. Students will practice a variety of Ethnographic Writing techniques, from self-reflection, to gathered observation, interviews, and investigation. Students will also participate in an artist-led activity to create a piece of illustrated artwork of everyday life, designed to accompany their ethnographic writing. Refugee Project Half Baked Art Collaboration, June 20 & 22 This workshop will allow participants to work on a piece of artwork in collaboration with a student living in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya. The dates for this set of two workshops are 6/20/22 (9-11am PT) and 6/22/22 (9-10am PT). From Stone Soup June 2022 The Hummingbird Whisperer By Michael Chao, 13 (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA) It was a lazy day in the month of May when I got that so-memorable phone call from my sometimes-bothersome twin sister, May. “Michael, hurry, hurry, come over!” screamed my sister, who was practicing tennis with Mom at a nearby tennis court. “Why? I’m busy!” I shouted back. “There’s two baby birds on the court. I think they’re still alive.” My ears perked up, and instantaneously my irritating sister became my wonderful sibling. “I’m coming right now!” I dragged Dad off the couch and made him drive me to the tennis courts. When we arrived, I saw Mom and May standing over two orphaned rufous hummingbirds, barely a week old. I couldn’t believe my eyes. This was my first time seeing hummingbird nestlings. They were only about the size of a stick of gum, pink-colored, and naked, with eyes closed. They shivered and ruffled what little down they had, trying to shelter from the ocean breeze. Delicately, I cupped them into the palm of my hand while using my other hand to block the wind. It was so nerve-racking to hold something so small and delicate. After gently placing the nestlings into a small insect cage padded with tissue paper, I began looking for their nest, hoping to find their mother, who was probably frantically seeking her young ones out. Along the boundary of the tennis court was a ten-foot-tall chain-link fence with ivy covering it from top to bottom. The ivy had grown thick, and probably hadn’t been cut back in years, which would make finding their home, a nest about the size of silver dollar, an almost impossible task. But the “needle in a haystack” chance of finding their nest didn’t deter me. I desperately wanted these little nestlings to live. I searched everywhere—every branch, nook, and cranny of ivy along the borders of the tennis court. After a couple of nerve-racking hours, I finally found the nest. It was located high up near the tree canopy, where neither my father, who is six-foot, three inches tall, nor I could reach. But mother bird was nowhere to be found. I
How Stories Work—Writing Workshop #40: Ekphrasis (Revisited)
An update from our fortieth Writing Workshop with Conner Bassett A summary of the workshop held on Saturday, June 4 This week, Emma Hoff, 10, led workshop with her own interpretation of ekphrasis, a favorite topic of the Stone Soup workshops. For the workshop portion, Emma presented us with the following three paintings and their accompanying ekphrastic interpretations. The Old Guitarist by Pablo Picasso — “The Man with the Blue Guitar” by Wallace Stevens. These two are different in that Stevens’ poem speaks of a blue guitar yet the only thing that isn’t blue in Picasso’s painting is the guitar. This is because Stevens speaks of a symbolic blue. Both works express modes/moods of sadness, or blueness. Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Bruegel the Elder — “Hunters in the Snow” by William Carlos Williams. WCW literally describes the painting, even references the painter. How does his reference of the painter affect the poem? Well, like the painting, which is crammed with details, William Carlos Williams crams his poem with details. House by the Railroad by Edward Hopper — “Edward Hopper and the House by Railroad” by Edward Hirsch. He, like WCW, is incorporating the painter. Hirsch really gets enamored with the painter. He’s kind of antagonistic towards Edward Hopper. After she’d shown us these three paintings and we together came up with interpretations, she asked us to choose between three more paintings in order to write an ekphrastic story/poem. The Challenge: Write an ekphrasis story/poem about either People at the Zoo, The Dream, or The Peasant Wedding The Participants: Emma (presenter), Lina, Anna, Jolene, Josh, Elbert, Fatehbir, Ellie, Samantha, Chelsea, Alice, Advika, Shiva
Break-Up Letter to 2021
Jacqueline Gonzalez, 13 (Hoboken, NJ) Break-Up Letter to 2021 Jacqueline Gonzalez, 13 Dear 2021, I’m not exactly sure how to say this, and I am sorry if this hurts you, but I think we should break up. We had great times together, like when we finally finished my family’s lake house. You even let me see my friends during our summer on the boat – something 2020 never let me do. We also got to attend my sister’s wedding and have one of the best days ever. From all of our memories together, I think my favorite was when you let me walk into school for the first time in almost two years! Though we had some great times and memories together, I realized that I need to put myself first for once. While you treated me much better than 2020 ever did, there are too many things that made me want to leave and never turn back. You sent your friend, Omicron, over to my house without letting me know, ruining New Year’s for my family and me (talk about obsessive)! You also made my parents cancel our Disney trip again, because you were hanging out with your friend Delta. You always thought that joking around and messing with people’s lives was fine, but here’s a little advice: it’s not okay to mess with people’s lives, especially mine! I know this won’t be easy to hear, but I met someone else. 2022 has so much more to offer and has promised me a good year to come. They provided me the opportunity to take a writing class to help me with the book I’ve tried to write throughout our relationship. 2022 also offered to fix the sleep schedule you helped ruin. Most importantly, 2022 offered me more time with friends and family that I haven’t seen, no thanks to your friends Omicron and Delta. 2021, it’s time for me to say my final goodbye. I’d say I hope you find a better partner, but let’s be honest, there’s no other partner better than me. So goodbye 2021, I hope you have a good life—without me! Best of Luck, Jacqueline
