“Winding Staircase” (Canon Powershot G10), photographed by Jeremy Nohrnberg, 10, (Cambridge, MA) and published in the February 2021 Issue of Stone Soup A note from Caleb I wanted to start out by briefly recognizing the work you continue to do in the Writing Workshop. As a student at the University of California, Santa Cruz, I have taken numerous writing workshops, and few come close to the level of genius you routinely display in just thirty minutes. It seems every week your work gets more original, nuanced, and engrossing. I look forward to hearing you read your work again next week. In Jeremy’s photo we look down a winding staircase, a view that could give those with a fear of heights a touch of vertigo. The shot is formatted such that we stare down the barrel of this staircase’s center, the bottom becoming a singular, darkened point, like an inverse tunnel. The result is as striking as it is ominous, made more so by the paradoxical effect of the rug draped over the banister that shifts the perspective from a person standing atop a staircase to a person standing on a rug and looking down, their body perpendicular rather than parallel to the stairs. The photograph asks questions about the nature of perception and what lies in wait for us at the end, challenging whether or not light really does exist at the end of the tunnel. Conversely, in Amber Zhao’s stunning poem “Finishing a Poem,” the speaker reaches a state of bliss as they are finally able to complete their poem, reaching the light at the end of the tunnel of inspiration. For the speaker, writing and living are inexorably linked: “the jagged edge of brokenness / intrudes upon my soul, and dusty fingerprints outline / the soul of this poem.” Moreover, writing is elevated by the speaker to the highest of planes, thereby simultaneously raising the stakes of writing as well as its potential reward, as Amber’s meta-poetic meditation on writing harks back to the concept of the poet as a godlike creator “whose words eclips[e] the sun and moon alike.” Amber’s poem reminds me that like life, the process of writing, while oftentimes long and arduous, brings with it moments that put us in a state of exaltation. So, keeping in mind these two works of art, I ask you what feelings you harbor toward completing a poem, story, or novel: do you relish the sense of satisfaction that comes with seeing something through to the end, or does the end of your writing loom in the distance like the end of a perfect day? Regardless of your feelings on the subject, I want you to take the time this weekend to practice writing endings. You could write a hypothetical ending to something you’ve already been working on, or you could write an ending in and of itself. Let this exercise take you wherever it takes you; I reckon it will be rewarding! Until next time, Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! Famous author Adam Rex wrote a glowing review of Abhi Sukhdial’s novella, Three Days Till EOC, which won the 2019 Stone Soup Book Contest. The rest of our wonderful author interviews were published this week, including interviews with third-place winner of the 2019 Book Contest Nami Gajcowski and newcomers Shelby Miller and Katie Pausin. Nova, 9, wrote a review of Ellen Hagan’s forthcoming novel in verse, Reckless, Glorious, Girl. Check out Nova’s review to find out why she found it to be a delicious read. From Stone Soup February 2021 Finishing a Poem By Amber Zhao, 10 (Brisbane, Australia) I have carved truth and beauty into yellowed parchment, having created something unique, vital, simple, complex, and bottomless as a fallen flower. The jagged edge of brokenness intrudes upon my soul, and dusty fingerprints outline the soul of this poem. The unbroken stretch of time has not erased these words eclipsing the sun and moon alike. What troubles they must have faced; what creative, poetic troubles would have gnawed on that author—spirit like moss and ivy on a house! Impossible feats are possible viewed the right way, melding dark and light into lines that are like a wishing well and looking glass. These rhymes instill visions that I thought would never come again, and the rhythm beats faster than fire. For me, I find a new renewal in this poem. After years of waiting to write that masterpiece, that pièce de résistance, word after word grasps into touch, paper, and ink to reveal the tide of inspiration. To read more from this issue, click here. 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. Stone Soup’s Advisors: Abby Austin, Mike Axelrod, Annabelle Baird, Jem Burch, Evelyn Chen, Juliet Fraser, Zoe Hall, Montanna Harling, Alicia & Joe Havilland, Lara Katz, Rebecca Kilroy, Christine Leishman, Julie Minnis, Jessica Opolko, Tara Prakash, Denise Prata, Logan Roberts, Emily Tarco, Rebecca Ramos Velasquez, Susan Wilky.
Newsletter
Saturday Newsletter: February 20, 2021
“Disco” (iPhone SE), photographed by Heloise Matumoto, 13 (Quebec, Canada) and published in the February 2021 issue of Stone Soup A note from Anya First, a little bit about me. My name is Anya Geist, and I’ve been interning with Stone Soup for most of a year (basically since I turned 14), and reading and submitting to Stone Soup for much, much longer. This is the first newsletter I’ve written! My internship has impacted the way I think about writing, and has inspired me to encourage writing in my own community. A little over two weeks ago, on February 11, my high school’s literary magazine, The Apricot Journal, published its first issue. To many of you, this most likely does not seem like a big deal. Magazines are published all the time! However, it is a different experience when you are on the inside of that magazine; for example, I am one of the founders of The Apricot Journal. Being on the inside of The Journal, I have a very different perspective on it than any of my classmates who only see it in its final version. I remember, very clearly, every step of the process that brought us to the published edition. I can recall, for example, when the project of creating a literary magazine suddenly became real a few months ago, I paced excitedly around my kitchen for about ten minutes. I’m sure that most of my peers would be surprised to hear about the amount of work that went on before they were even aware of The Journal’s existence. Behind seemingly simple things such as submission forms, there were long meetings. Behind every writing workshop we held, or every announcement we made, were elaborate text conversations. And, all of this was before we even published our first issue. So, as you can see, appearances can be deceptive. The presence of a PDF with a pleasant cover, full of poetry and stories, that appears in an email inbox under the subject title of The Apricot Journal, might not be as spontaneous or sudden as you’d think; in fact, on the inside, it was something being led up to for months. Now, on the topic of appearances that can be deceiving, I want you to look at Heloise Matumoto’s photo Disco, in Stone Soup’s February issue. In this photo, I really like the way the light is reflected from the disco ball and onto the ceiling. When I first looked at it, I thought the ceiling was domed, because of the way the light warped the shape of the ceiling. So, this weekend, think about how appearances can be deceiving! Then, write about an instance, whether in real life or not, where what appears on the surface is distorting what’s actually there. As always, if you like what you have written, please go to our website and submit it to Emma to read for possible consideration. My best to you all, More on the Apricot Journal, and Stone Soup Author Interviews Congratulations, Anya, on The Apricot Journal. All of your friends and colleagues at Stone Soup are so impressed with what you and your team at school have achieved! As well as taking over this week’s Newsletter, we asked Anya to write a blog post about her experiences setting up The Apricot Journal. To find out more about it, and to see some more images of the beautifully designed magazine, click here. Check it out, and if you are inspired to create your own publication, let us know about it! Also, have you been keeping up with the short video interviews with Stone Soup Authors? We have continued to post more in the series Anya recorded last summer to our website over the past weeks, and there are more to come. Visit Stonesoup.com to eavesdrop on conversations between Anya and our authors. You’ll hear advice, writing tips, and experiences from some of our contributors and Writing Workshop participants! Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! As we mentioned above, so many thought-provoking author interviews were posted to the blog this week! Check out the Stone Soup Author Interviews page to watch Anya’s chats with Tatiana Rebecca Shrayer, Lucy Rados, Georgia Marshall, Analise Braddock, Sasha Miller, Tilly Marlow, and more! In Eden’s poem, “2020,” each stanza represents a month from last year. She successfully captures the roller coaster of emotions that so many of us felt in 2020. Nora, 12, wrote a glowing review of the Betsy-Tacy series of books by Maud Hart Lovelace. Read Nora’s review to find out why she enjoys the historical series so much. At last week’s writing workshop, participants wrote about larger-than-life characters. Read some of the work created during the workshop here. We published an excerpt from Dytui’s journal, detailing her experience during Diwali last year. Read her post to find out how she and her family celebrated in 2020. From Stone Soup February 2021 When You Fall Asleep at Night By Yutia Li, 10 (Houston, TX) (Illustrated by Heloise Matumoto, 13 (Quebec, Canada)) The pitter-patter of feet heading up the stairs reaches their porcelain ears. The room is holding its breath, waiting silently for that sound, the sound that everyone yearns to hear. Soon, the faint melody of snoring drifts downstairs. The cabinets begin to stir. The drawers rustle. The cupboards ease open with a muffled creeeeak. They come pouring out, jostling for position, the tiny objects creating a huge traffic jam. Some throw on makeshift washcloth dresses and suits and find a spot on the countertop dance floor to twist and twirl like graceful ballerinas. Others sit down to chat about the ups and downs of their day. Yet more toss ping-pong balls and skitter around like squirrels, uttering subtle squeals. But most sneak into the pantry and nibble a morsel of well-deserved cookie crumbles and leftover Cheerios after a long, weary day of serving their masters—a meal large enough to fill their
Saturday Newsletter: February 13, 2021
Stone Soup Author Interview between Anya Geist and Lena Aloise. A note from William Wishing you all my best for this Valentine’s Day weekend! Hopefully, this is the last Valentine’s Day any of us will experience as part of a pandemic. When you are around strangers, please mask to stay extra safe. But, of course, take your mask off when eating chocolate! Our wonderful new employee, Caleb Berg, has been working behind the scenes to complete the Stone Soup Author Interview Project led by Stone Soup intern Anya Geist. We are now rolling out Anya’s Stone Soup Author Interview videos. This first release is a compilation of Anya, who is a Stone Soup intern, asking Stone Soup authors about the ongoing Saturday Writing Workshop. The thoughtfulness and eloquence of their responses should come as no surprise to those who’ve read their stunning work. Thanks to each of you who participated in this and the other Stone Soup Author Interviews. Now that they are edited, Caleb will begin releasing the remaining interviews on our blog, so make sure to look out for those over the coming week! Comments on blog posts are always welcome. Enrollment in the Saturday Writing Workshop is closed at this time. It currently has fifty-five students, which is actually more than we had planned! We are thinking of ways we may be able to increase our offering of writing classes—but for now I think the soonest we will have more classes is the summer.We will be posting the summer school schedule shortly. These shorter, more intensive workshops are conducted in association with the fabulous Society of Young Inklings. We have the teachers lined up and class descriptions written, so all that is left is for the final schedule to be worked out and published. “Wild World”—this story, with its fantastic descriptions, precise language, and unexpected twists and turns by Ever Sun, a writing workshop student, has so much going for it, I don’t know where to start. I could write about this story for an hour! The combination of realism and fantasy is, well, fantastic. Such an evocative story. Challenging. Thought-provoking. It is a story that rewards re-reading. Being practical, what I’d like focus on is the descriptive language. As you read the story, please note the vivid imagery. In the first paragraph, you have buildings that loom. In the second sentence, you have Luxi loving the “flash and lights” of the city. “Flash” and “lights” work together—we are all familiar with “flashing lights.” But, Ever speaks of the “flash and lights” of the city. Thus, she is using “flash” in the sense of “flashy,” “exciting,” “vibrant.” Throughout this story, Ever uses language that is both precise and carries us beneath the surface. In describing a tree she says, “Its trunk was old and rough, its branches weak but sturdy . . ..” “Weak” and “sturdy” are both words with precise meanings. “Weak but sturdy” takes us someplace special. It takes us into the inner nature of a tree. All those branches dancing in the wind—another term Ever used to talk about the trees—so weak, and ye so sturdy. Luxi is researching nature in a place that is both natural and supernatural. Thank you, Ever, for this wonderful story! Weekend project: after reading Ever’s story and paying attention to her descriptions, write about a piece of nature that you are familiar with. If the spirit moves you, allow a bit of the spirit world into your story. A little bit of the supernatural. As always, if you like what you come up with, please go to our website and submit what you have written to Emma to read for possible publication. Until next week, Congratulations to our most recent Monthly Flash Contest Winners! Our February Flash Contest was based on our weekly creativity prompt #138, asking writers to put themselves in the shoes of one of their favorite characters by pretending this character had social media, and entrants did not disappoint. From added wrinkles to the wizarding world of Harry Potter to illustrations of beloved cartoons—and even to the outer reaches of space—we received a wide array of submissions that challenged traditional modes of thinking and gave new perspective on what it means to grow up with social media. It is a marvel to be continually surprised by the amazing work we receive each month. So, well done to all who submitted! In particular, we congratulate our honorable mentions and our winners, whose work you can appreciate below. You can read the winning entries for this contest (and previous ones) at the Stone Soup website. Winners “Insta Pusheen” by Maggie Kershen, 11, Norman, OK “Godley Scribblings: How I Came To Be Uncle Totey” by Iago Macknik-Conde, 12, Brooklyn, NY “The Social Evolution of Our Beloved Wizard” by Pranjoli Sadhukha, 11, Newark, OH “@pluto9planet” by Ender Ippolito, 9, Portland, OR “Halloween with the Rooney’s” by Elizabeth Sabaev, 10, Forest Hills, NY Honorable Mentions “Better than Daily Prophet” by Jack Rubin, 9, Solon, OH “Tweets from Cricket” by Rex Huang, 11, Lake Oswego, OR “Chihiro Posts from ‘Spirited Away’” by Scarlet He, 10, Scarsdale, NY “Ariel—The Ocean Heroine” by Tang Li, 8, Palmetto Bay, FL “The Leader Who Gained Citizens with Twitter” by Chelsea Liang, 11, San Jose, CA Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! Read Anya’s update from our most recent Book Club, where they discussed The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani. The next book to be discussed will be The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin. Nora, 12, reviewed Lloyd Alexander’s The Book of Three, which is part of the Chronicles of Prydain. Check out her review to find out why she enjoyed the series and found the characters relatable. In “The Courtroom Choir,” Charlie wrote a moving poem about former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Check out Aditi’s review of Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling. Aditi writes that the book will “teach kids that confidence, self-appreciation, and belief in oneself are essential in whatever they do.” Don’t miss Adhi’s post on how you can combine Math and Art through drawing
