The Artist Upstairs

Announcing Frog Hollow's 2024 anthology (finally)

I’m so excited to share that my students’ anthology is now out in the world! It’s called The Artist Upstairs and yes, that is a link, because you too can get a copy, or several (we’re selling them at cost, for $4.00), and give them to everyone you know who might enjoy or be inspired by the writing of young writers. Or anyone who’d like to know what it feels like to be a hamburger.

Seriously, these young writers can imagine everything.

Kids inspiring kids

If you’ve been reading this newsletter for awhile, you’ve probably heard me get enthusiastic about the book Wishes, Lies, and Dreams, by Kenneth Koch. It’s the book that got me excited about teaching creative writing to kids. Mostly, it’s a book of student poetry, along with the prompts that writing was drawn from.

Using it in my classes for the last decade and a half, I find that students LOVE reading the work of other kids, and that they write easily in response to it. There is something really powerful about being included in the canon, the conversation. Representation matters.

It’s in that spirit that I’m excited to share this anthology with you all. I hope it inspires the young writers in your lives. And I also just hope you all enjoy it, because personally, I think it’s pretty awesome.