Drift (Sony a5100) by Anna Koontz, 13; published in Stone Soup September 2022 A note from William Rubel Dear Friends— An update: continuing website improvements! The Stone Soup team has been working for months with britecode, our web design and development firm, to make our site easier to navigate as well as more beautiful. We’re very proud of the new homepage launched some weeks ago. We recently completed the new landing page for the magazine. I encourage you to visit the page and enjoy the linked writing—the stories, poetry, and memoir—and art! Anna Koontz’s dreamlike photograph is not the only photograph Stone Soup has published that rewards contemplation. We have two more big pages to go in our revision process. They are the blog and classes pages. Improving these pages is important to us and Stone Soup’s future as we begin to market Stone Soup’s website to teachers to use in their creative writing programs. We will begin our Annual Drive within the next few weeks and are looking for sponsors to help with this redesign project. Each page will cost in the neighborhood of $3,000. If you would like to sponsor a page, please write to finance@stonesoup.com All my best, William’s Weekly Project A dream, a sigh. Anna Koontz’s photograph captures the ineffable. A wisp, a gesture, it takes us into the realm of shadows dancing by the candlelight, clouds blown by the wind, shape-changing. Anna’s photograph is like a poem, a haiku, capturing an instant in time. I’d like you to look at this picture for some moments, letting your eyes follow the gorgeous curves of the smoke. Congratulations, Anna, for finding this flash of beauty, this emanation from the spirit world! As you, our newsletter readers, view this photograph, let it speak to you and jot down your impressions. They may be very different from mine. Then, sit down and describe what you see around you. They can be small observations, like a spider in its web in the corner of the windowsill or your cat curled up sleeping. Try to capture what you see as mysteriously and succinctly as Anna did in her photograph. And as always, if you like your creation, please submit it for possible publication in the magazine. Stone Soup is published by Children’s Art Foundation-Stone Soup Inc., a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization registered in the United States of America, EIN: 23-7317498.
Newsletter
Saturday Newsletter: October 22, 2022
The Fall Impression (gouache) by Serena Li, 10; published in Stone Soup October 2022 A note from Laura This week I’d like to draw your attention to Olivia Lee’s piece of short fiction, “The Note.” For me, this piece perfectly combines a sense of mystery and intrigue that carries the story and makes you want to read what happens next, with an attention to detail—a kind of deep observation—that allows you to imagine yourself at the center of the narrative. As I read this story, I want to know the narrator better. How did she discover the tree, and why is she so certain that the mysterious girl she discovers there wouldn’t want to be her friend? I also want to know more about the mysterious girl. Where did she come from? Why is she there? Did she leave the note alerting the narrator to the hunters? But despite the mystery that the narrative holds, there’s much that I can relate to and imagine clearly, like the appeal of the tree itself with its soft patches of grass beneath and the solitude it affords. Aside from the sharp detail provided in the story, another tool the author uses to help plant the reader in the center of its setting is the use of second person narration. The author uses this narrative style briefly and effectively in the second paragraph. Lee writes: If you felt the grass, you knew that it was very soft. When gazing up, you would see many birds of different shapes and colors sitting on the high branches. You would feel safe under the tree, like it was protecting you from bad things. Using this technique, the author transforms “you,” the reader, into a character in the story, steering you to experience the unfolding narrative firsthand. This weekend, I invite you to try using second person narration in a piece of writing. Play with this style of narration to see how it affects the tone of your writing and how it can act to immerse the reader more deeply in your story. Until next time, A New Magazine Page We are delighted to announce the launch of a new magazine landing page on our website! The new page makes it easier to navigate to the current issue, our archives, and past artwork and writing, all from a central location. We very much appreciated your patience during its preparation and testing phases. Be on the lookout for more exciting revisions to stonesoup.com in the coming months! From Stone Soup October 2022 The Note By Olivia Lee, 10 The path that led to the tree went zigzag, but it wasn’t very long. It had slight curves with small bumps. It was like a stone platform, with barely any cracks. But what was really a sight was the tree. It was a very tall one, its leaves dark green as ripe cucumbers. The branches curled softly, like breezes tickling waves into the air. Under the tree was a spot to sit, with patches of grass covering the dirt. If you felt the grass, you knew that it was very soft. When gazing up, you would see many birds of different shapes and colors sitting on the high branches. You would feel safe under the tree, like it was protecting you from bad things. You would sit there for a long time, but then it would be time to go. The patches of grass would sit still, hoping you would come again. I only saw someone else come once. She was a girl, one who sat quietly under the tree by herself. Often, she would fling one of her long legs over a thick branch while the other leg stayed hopelessly on the ground. I tried to say “Hi,” but before I could, the girl went off into the forest behind the gates to the left of the tree. I wanted to follow her but decided not to because if she saw me, she wouldn’t want to be my friend. I sighed. I came to visit the tree whenever I had time left in my day. Even if I had only a few minutes, I wouldn’t miss a single moment to come to the stony pathway. I’d come here before breakfast, before school, before anything, or after anything. But sadly, I had no one to bring with me. I’d ask my mother, but she was always busy knitting with her sharp darning needle or busy dealing with my sister, who was always running around. I’d ask my father, but he was too busy changing into his work clothes. I’d ask my sister . . . actually, I wouldn’t. She would be too loud and energetic to sit under a quiet, peaceful tree, and people would be annoyed. I’d ask my friend Cindy, but she was just like my sister. Talkative and energetic. I wanted someone who would enjoy the tree with me. …More Stone Soup is published by Children’s Art Foundation-Stone Soup Inc., a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization registered in the United States of America, EIN: 23-7317498.
Saturday Newsletter: October 15, 2022
Read about Stone Soup’s latest book releases below! A note from William Rubel Friends – I am exceedingly proud to announce that you can now preorder Sarah Hunt’s Foxtale, the First Place (Fiction) winner of our third Annual Book Contest held in 2021. Many, many congratulations, Sarah! The official publication date is November 15. Place your orders now to get the book as soon as it is released and in time for the holiday season. Before talking more about the book, I would like to acknowledge and congratulate the many young writers who submitted works to the competition. It takes a great deal of determination to complete a book-length work of fiction or poetry and courage to submit the work to a contest. Anyone who manages to complete a long work of fiction—or a book-length poetry collection—has accomplished a miracle. Sarah’s novel is set in the future. It involves climate change, space travel, adventure—classic science fiction! It is also a literary work, however. Chapters open with thoughtful aphorisms and quotes from other authors that express ideas important to the story. Sarah’s writing is intense! She is one of those authors who seems to inhabit her characters such that you see and feel what they see and feel. One becomes intensely attached to the characters and to the story. A real page turner! I have a second book to announce today, too. The collection of poems, Catalogue of Ripening, was written by Sabrina Guo during her first years in high school. She is currently a senior. For several years, Sabrina was a Stone Soup star, a repeat contributor and winner of multiple writing contests. This is our first foray into publishing works by Stone Soup authors who have moved into the next stage of their writing life. Longtime readers of this newsletter know that Sabrina has developed a substantive focus on social action: she is the inspiration for Stone Soup’s Refugee Project, has founded multiple programs aimed at empowering girls, and raised tens of thousands of dollars to buy protective gear for medical workers early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Knowing these aspects of her life story, you will find her poetic voice is equally curious, outward-looking, and deeply empathetic. The poems in this collection are beautiful, thoughtful literary works that show Sabrina to be a ripening literary voice, one that is coming into her own. It is very exciting for Stone Soup to see one of our writers mature. Please support Sara and Sabrina by purchasing their books! Both titles are appropriate for either young adult or adult readers and are now available for order (or preorder!) through all major book retailers and at your local bookstore, or by clicking the links to buy on our Amazon storefront, or from an Indie bookstore. My best, Stone Soup is published by Children’s Art Foundation-Stone Soup Inc., a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization registered in the United States of America, EIN: 23-7317498.
