Magnolias at Midnight, Acrylic | Shaivi Moparthi, 11 (Sugarland, TX), published in Stone Soup January 2022 A note from Caleb Hello and happy second Saturday of 2022! In exactly two weeks’ time, we will be beginning our Winter 2022 session of Saturday classes. As was the case last session, our founder, William Rubel, will be teaching his writing workshop on Saturdays at 9:00 am Pacific, Conner Bassett will be teaching his writing workshop on Saturdays at 11:00 am Pacific, and Isidore Bethel will be teaching his introduction to short-form filmmaking class on Saturdays at 9:00 am Pacific. We are also excited to announce that Maya Mahony, an MFA student in fiction at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, will be taking over Book Club in place of Laura Moran, who will be spending more time on the Stone Soup Refugee Project! Book Club will continue to take place the last Saturday of each month at 9:00 am Pacific. Both Avery DiBella’s stunning poem “The Moon” and Shaivi Moparthi’s breathtaking acrylic Magnolias at Midnight concern themselves with the moon’s magic. Every line in Avery’s poem begins with “The moon”; at the center of Shaivi’s painting is a bright, shining moon, and, at first glance, it would seem both works are concerned with singing its praises. But, there is a sense of foreboding at play, lurking beneath the surface. Take the fourth line of Avery’s poem: “The moon/ is too/ Bright/ That in the/ Gorgeous/ Night/ I dream about/ The moon.” I’ve emboldened the “too” because it is this word choice that changes the entire meaning of the poem. In essence, the moon’s brightness is so dominant that its beauty takes precedence over the “gorgeous night” and the speaker’s dreams. Without that “too,” the poem’s final line, “The moon/ Feels like/ My pillow/ When I myself/ Am/ Sound asleep,” might only denote how the moon “soothes” the speaker. Instead, the line takes on an eerie significance; in all its dominance, the moon has become so ubiquitous, so inescapable that its presence is felt in the inherently unfelt: the pillow beneath a sound sleeper. In Shaivi’s painting, the magnolias are beautiful; it is their pink color that accents the image. In a literal sense, they take up more space than the moon. The painting is even titled Magnolias at Midnight. And yet, the moon—this bright, shining, floating orb—steals the viewer’s attention. After looking away from the painting, the moon is what remains, seamlessly imprinted like Avery’s pillow beneath a sound sleeper. Shaivi’s painting also reminds me of a famous quote from Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens, which would go on to inspire Nabokov’s Pale Fire: “The moon’s an arrant thief, And her pale fire she snatches from the sun.” So, thinking about how Avery’s poem and Shaivi’s painting indirectly take issue with the moon’s dominance, this weekend I’d like you to think about something in your life that is beautiful, marvelous, breathtaking, but for whatever reason rubs you the wrong way. Then, write what appears to be an ode singing the praises of this object, but, perhaps with the help of just a few words, in reality highlights your sense of unease. As always, if you like what you’ve written or created, we would love for you to share and submit it to us via Submittable! Till next time, Avery DiBella, 10 Salem, NH From Stone Soup January 2022 The Moon By Avery DiBella, 10 (Salem, NH) The moon Shines as bright As the stars In the glimmering So glimmering Night sky. The moon Soothes Me In my sleep. The moon Is soaking With new Dreams That can Be discovered… Continue reading “The Moon” 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.
book club
Book Club Report: The Austen Girls, Lucy Worsley
An update from our thirty-first Book Club meeting! On Saturday, September 11th, our final Book Club meeting of the year, we were so very fortunate to be joined by renowned author and historian, Lucy Worsley, to discuss her book, The Austen Girls. The session was small, which meant that we were able to have thorough in-depth conversations with Ms. Worsley about The Austen Girls and the process of writing it, and also about her vast knowledge about life in the Georgian era in England. Participants came prepared with many questions and Ms. Worsley was lively and thorough in her responses. Our Q and A session lasted for the entirety of the book club. What was most notable and interesting to me about the Austen Girls was the immersive detail about daily life which was woven into the fabric of the narrative about two young girls, Jane Austen’s real-life nieces, Fanny and Anna, at the cusp of being “presented to society” with the expectation that they would find husbands. The book covers many weighty and important themes spanning feminism to the criminal justice system, but in doing so, we get what feels like a true window into life during this time, with each scene opening at one character or another’s breakfast table, or sitting room, or library, etc. Our discussion with Ms. Worsley shed further light on the daily experiences of her protagonist with her vast knowledge of the historical record and the very documents that inspired the novel. For instance, Ms. Worsley told us of a series of letters she’s read from Jane Austen to Fanny and Anna sharing her advice about their various marriage prospects, urging them to “avoid this one, he seems a bit shady” or, instead, “maybe look into this one…” What better fodder for a novel!! Ms. Worsley was as generous with her questions for Book Club participants as she was with her answers, prompting engaging discussions about the types of historical fiction participants have read or would perhaps like to write about. Finally, she shared her plans for her next piece of historical fiction which we all look forward to reading. I hope everyone enjoys a warm and festive holiday season and we look forward to welcoming you to our next session of Book Club meetings beginning on January 29th, 2022. I have truly enjoyed leading the Book Club for the past year and half, but I will be stepping away from this role in order to focus my time on my primary role at Stone Soup as the director of the Refugee Project. I’m so excited for you all to meet Maya Mahony, who will be taking over as Book Club facilitator in January. Maya is a graduate student at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and she specializes in Young Adult fiction. I’m sure she will bring so much knowledge to the table as Book Club facilitator and I hope you’ll all join her! Maya’s first Book Club session will cover Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis. Our Next Book (to be discussed on January 29, 2022): Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
Saturday Newsletter: December 4, 2021
Winter Wonderland | iPhone 8 Elodie Weinzierl, 11 (Waban, MA), published in Stone Soup December 2021 A note from Caleb Fall 2021 Workshop Reading Don’t forget: Saturday December 11, at 10 am Pacific/1 pm Eastern, we will be hosting our end of term event in which our students read aloud some of the incredible work they’ve written this fall. Please come and support our students by signing up, here! Book Club Also on Saturday December 11, but at 9 am Pacific/12 pm Eastern (the event will end before we begin the workshop reading), Book Club will be hosting Lucy Worsley, author of The Austen Girls. Don’t miss out on a terrific opportunity to speak with a published author, and sign up, here! Happy December! Start the month off right by curling up with Anya Geist’s new book Born on the First of Two (you can read an excerpt here), now available for purchase in the Stone Soup store. I’m so excited to share with you the most recent development of another Stone Soup author, Abhi Sukhdial, whose timely novel Three Days Till EOC was the winner of our 2019 Book Contest. After Three Days Till EOC was honored by the Green Earth Book Awards, Abhi made a video in which he speaks passionately and candidly about the need for climate action, celebrates the impact of Stone Soup Magazine, encourages everyone to write from the heart, and promotes and reads from his novel Three Days Till EOC. As Abhi feels that finding Stone Soup was like finding “heaven,” we too could not feel more blessed to have worked with Abhi since he first began submitting to us as a fourth-grader, and we can’t wait to see what he accomplishes in the future. Congratulations, Abhi! Now, I’d like to draw your attention to a couple of outstanding works of art from the December issue: Elodie Weinzierl’s Winter Wonderland, the issue’s cover image, and Sean Tenzin O’Connor’s “A Beautiful Wood.” Winter Wonderland is the perfect photograph to represent the December issue, as it features a snowy tree arched over a white hammock, inviting Stone Soup’s readers to relax amidst the wintery landscape of the issue’s content. “A Beautiful Wood,” meanwhile, is an ingenious representation of the December issue’s wintery landscape. In “A Beautiful Wood,” Sean—just five years old—leads us on a journey that ends “at the bottom,” in a place that “may seem that it’s not cold,” where the poem’s central image is revealed: “A Chord of Pine Trees in the Night.” The poem reminds me of Wallace Stevens’s “The Snow Man,” mainly in that I believe one must have “a mind of winter” to follow the thread of the poem and truly see with their own eyes the “Chord of Pine Trees in the Night” rather than just imagine them. So, this weekend I’d like you to create an artwork that celebrates the themes of winter as you understand them. This may be more of a literal interpretation, as in Elodie’s photograph, or it may be more figurative, as in Sean’s poem. Regardless, the artwork should embody winter. Try reading “The Snow Man” for further inspiration. As always, if you’re happy with what you’ve written or created, we would love for you to share and submit it to us via Submittable! Till next time, Other News Book Club On Saturday December 11, at 9 am Pacific/12 pm Eastern, Book Club will be hosting Lucy Worsley, author of The Austen Girls. Don’t miss out on a terrific opportunity to speak with a published author and sign up, here! Fall 2021 Workshop Reading Also on Saturday December 11, at 10 am Pacific/1 pm Eastern, we will be hosting our end of term event in which our students read aloud some of the incredible work they’ve written this fall. Please come and support our students by signing up, here! Highlights from the past week online Eleanor Dagan, 13, wrote a powerful poem about how the COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped long-standing traditions. From Stone Soup December 2021 A Beautiful Wood By Sean Tenzin O’Connor, 5 (Bishop, CA) In the light of the lamp Many rocks Sitting aside Resting in place In the dark The shadows cast Lights and lamps Throughout the night Hanging down Towards the book The poems written With many hooks Continue reading “A Beautiful Wood” 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.