An Archeology of the Future by Emma Catherine Hoff. Cover art by Rebecca Wu, 9. A note from Emma Wood Hello, Stone Soup readers & writers, Earlier this month, we announced that Archeology of the Future by Emma Catherine Hoff, the poetry winner of Stone Soup’s 2022 Book Contest, was released and is available for purchase! Please support Stone Soup and Emma by buying her book today. If you have participated in one of our writing workshops recently, you have likely met Emma! Likewise, if you have been reading Stone Soup for the past couple of years, you will have encountered many of her poems (and maybe one of her photographs!) on our pages. I wish Stone Soup could take credit for making Emma into the poet she is today—and surely we have played some small role—but she came to our classes and our submission pool already a very mature poet with a strong voice and sense of style. I remember being astonished when I first encountered “The Ambassador” in our submission pool—it was dark, surreal, moving, strange. (To me, “strange” is the highest compliment any poem can receive—denoting both originality but also complexity and mystery; a “strange” poem always demands rereading.) Emma was eight years old when she wrote it, and it was the first poem of hers that we published. We are so proud, three years later, to be publishing her collection of poems, which has garnered the advance praise it deserves. Read on for a taste of what others are saying about her collection and further, to read a poem from the collection. Like the Surrealists before her, Hoff can see into the emotional lives of the things we use every day, things we toss around carelessly… If one of my friends had written this beautifully when I was starting out, I would have probably quit, and doffed my cap to her and said “you go on ahead” or more likely, “you’re already there.” — Matthew Rohrer, author of The Others Emma Hoff is a rare poet. And one of my favorites.I am tempted to use the words visionary, otherworldly, untimely, genius. I am tempted to say she flies above the earth. When I read Emma Hoff for the first time years ago, I thought: She’s not from this planet. I thought: She does not remind me of other poets; she makes me forget them. — Conner Bassett, author of Gad’s Book This collection is a garden of eurekas, a cavalcade of astonishments as, stanza by stanza, Hoff delivers the musings of a subtle intellect fed by a deep and abiding empathy for this world. The deftness of the prosody is only matched by its variety. Open it, and read for yourself. — Carlos Hernandez, NY Times bestselling author of Sal and Gabi Break the Universe The delights to be uncovered in An Archeology of the Future strike me with awe, urgency, solace, and compassion. How daring, how beautiful, how extraordinary it is, in this moment of the world when our world feels so broken, that Mt. Parnassas is still at work, and Hoff is a voice so richly sowed. — Jenny Boully, author of Betwixt and Between: Essays on the Writing Life From An Archeology of the Future The Lamp by Emma Catherine Hoff, 1o The light shines innocently, but it blinds me, my eyes become red. I shy from it and still it follows me with its intense gaze boring into me as I walk around the room. I feel the hot bulb, sense the lamp melting and perspiring under its own fever, its own light. The business is done, I think, but my dreams that night are of that still figure creeping up on me, and the next day, I find the lamp standing again. It glares at me and whispers in my ear, burning it, telling me that the sun’s light is not enough. I ask it how it knows, but the sun dies and the lamp is still glowing and I am grateful for it now. We make our way through the darkness until it parts with me, saying it must go, its filament cannot take the strain anymore and that the darkness isn’t as bad as people think. Click here to purchase An Archeology of the Future. 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: September 30, 2023
Raindrops, or Sharpie Doodles? (Canon Rebel) by Madeline Male, 14; published in the September/October issue of Stone Soup A note from Tayleigh Greene Hello, and happy Saturday! This week, I’ve been reflecting on my creative process, and creative processes in general. I never know exactly when I’ll get paid a visit by the muses. I find myself doing a lot of creative work that doesn’t, well, work. I can draw or paint or write or design for hours without finishing a single thing that I like, and then suddenly, things will click. I’m discovering that creating the “bad” art is an integral step in my process of creating something “good.” Sometimes, this can be frustrating—like when I’m on deadline. Other times, it can be really liberating to simply enjoy the process on the way to the product. This week, I hope you consider taking some time to create for the simple sake of creating. Engage in any art form—writing, painting, knitting, dancing, the list goes on and on! Try not to think about how it looks, but how it feels. (Of course, if you do like what you make, we welcome you to submit your work to Stone Soup.) Now for Stone Soup news: today is the very last day of our back-to-school sale. Use code BACK2SCHOOL30 at checkout for 30% off an annual print + digital subscription. Today is also the last day to subscribe and still receive the September/October issue. From Leticia Cheng’s gorgeous Set Sail by Moonlight that graces the cover, to Madeline Male’s Raindrops, or Sharpie Doodles? featured above, to Naaman Garcia’s hilarious short story “The Cheese Tree,” this issue is not to be missed. Until next time, From Stone Soup September/October 2023 The Cheese Tree by Naaman Garcia, 8 One day, there was a guy named Bob. He was a farmer. He thought he made decent money, until the bills hit him real good in the face. While walking on Dry Creek, which was his favorite place to go, he stumbled upon a seed. It looked strange. It was riddled with holes. He looked at the seed long and hard. It looked like cheese. He said to himself, “I am going to study this.” Bob boosted out like a rocket back to his farm. He rushed to his computer, his shoes squeaking like a mouse. Looking online, the farmer found no data on the seed. He decided to use his farmer instincts. He rushed to the kitchen, opened the cabinet door, and pulled out his music box and a cup. Bob wound up the music box, and out played the familiar tune: Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down . . . He poured himself a cup of coffee and drank it silently while he listened to the music box. When the song ended, he grabbed the seed and barged through the door. Bob planted the seed. Click here to find out what happens next… 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: September 16, 2023
My Sister (pencil) by Crystal Fu, 12; published in the September/October issue of Stone Soup A note from Emma Wood Hello, friends! As many of you know, my family and I recently moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. I was surprised to realize that, even though Chicago is a mere four-hour drive away, Ohio is on Eastern time—and in fact, Indiana, the state directly to the west of us, is on Eastern time too! This means the mornings are shorter and evenings are later. When it’s evening, I love that it’s still light. But every morning, I wish the sun were already up; it’s hard to wake up in the dark, and it’s only September—which means we have many more months of dark mornings ahead. The tension between my mandated time zone and what feels like the actual time has prompted me to think more about time—and especially about the way I’ve adapted to this new relationship to daytime hours and sunlight. In the September issue, there are a few poems about time: you can read two by Madeline Male, 14, here and here, and one by Sonia Kamnitzer, 10, here. Over the coming weeks, I encourage you to reflect on your relationship to time and to explore it through writing or visual art (or both!). As always, consider submitting your work to us after—we’d love to consider it for publication! Otherwise, I hope everyone is settling into a calmer back-to-school routine. My daughter started her first year of preschool this week, and we are all still adjusting! If you don’t already subscribe to the magazine, we are currently running a promotion for 30% off our annual print and digital subscription with the code BACK2SCHOOL30 for the month of September. Please consider signing up this fall, or urging your friends or your child’s school to do so. As always, we appreciate your support of Stone Soup! Yours from in front of an open window with perfectly cool air wafting in– 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.
