The Beautiful Lady Interview on CNN

It was a pleasure to participate in this remote CNN interview in Spanish.

See more images of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Creativity Salon: an Interview with Uma Krishnaswami

Welcome to Bookjoy Creativity Salon, Uma! I so enjoyed the video on your site about your new book, Out of the Way! Out of the Way!  Actually, I learned from each of the sections on your visually-appealing site

To begin, Uma, please tell us a bit about yourself.

I was a klutzy kid and I am now a klutzy adult. I love cats, and the colors purple and green. I like hiking, especially if rocks are involved. I knit when I revise, and I have graduated from scarves to socks. I am a very messy writer, and I throw away more words than I keep. Is that more than anyone might want to know?

1. You are from India and now live in New Mexico (though I didn’t know that until I spent time on your site). How has living in the United States affected your creative life and process?

I was born in India and live in the United States. This experience allows me to create a mental geography beyond one place. I’ve forged an identity that lets me cross national and cultural borders. It’s made me profoundly grateful for the many people on two continents who have supported and encouraged me to tell the stories that matter to me. I’ve seen the children’s and YA publishing industry in the US open its doors over the years to culturally grounded writing, so that I, a nobody in the writing universe, could dare to aspire to publication.

2. Your new book was previously published in India and has now been published by wonderful Groundwood Books, a press I admire. How has the publishing process been different?

The editorial process with Indian publisher Tulika Books was quite different from what I was used to. For one thing, even though I was corresponding with a single editor, I realized that all decisions were made in community, with many editorial meetings underlying each question raised. There was no one “editor” for my book—they all worked on everything. You’d think that might result in a hopeless muddle, but it was quite the reverse. Everything was deeply embedded in a vision for the work that went beyond individual opinions. The insights I gained from those exchanges led me away towards a stronger story with a longer reach.

3. In the video of Out of the Way! Out of the Way! You mention issues of plot and action. Do you see a move in U.S. children’s published away from “quiet books,” and a growing interest action, action, action?

Yes, especially in the realm of picture books. That saddens me. We live in such a frenetically paced world, that it seems all the more important for young children to learn the joys of stillness and quiet. But then I see books like Ashley Bryan’s glorious renderings of hymns, or Janet Wong’s Hide and Seek, and I think maybe there’s hope.

4. You also teach writing for children and young adults in Vermont College’s MFA program. Your web site section “Tips & Tools for Writers” has so much good advice. I particularly smiled at the last item, the witty note in which you reject an editor’s rejection letter. Is accepting rejection the most difficult challenge your students face?

In our business, oddly enough, lasting professional relationships, even deep friendships, can spring from criticism and rejection! But I think the most difficult challenge is to let go of one’s own words—to understand that the first words that come to mind may not last. They may reflect some mirage of the story that the author is still chasing. I tell my students to let go of the words, but not of the impulse that made the story bubble up in the first place.

5. What do you enjoy reading, Uma?

I often read three or four books simultaneously. In contemporary children’s and YA literature I like to read a sampling of books published outside the US as well, so I don't get bogged down in a kind of “marketplace” mentality. I mix that up with books for grownups, to keep my mind flexible and open to options in my own writing. I’ve just finished Ursula Dubosarsky’s marvelous middle grade novel, The Golden Day, and am now reading The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro and rereading Alain de Botton’s The Art of Travel.

Creativity Salon: an Interview with Illustrator David Gardner

Welcome to Bookjoy Creativity Salon, David! I love the visuals on your site! Although we never get to visit enough in person, I’m so pleased that you and I both live in Santa Fe.


David, please tell us a bit about yourself.

Thanks so much, Pat. Let's see. . . I grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. I got my Film degree from Northwestern near Chicago, was a touring puppeteer based in Atlanta, a production assistant on the old TV show Solid Gold in L.A. and an artist for Walt Disney Studios there, too, on movies like Beauty and the Beast. I still do animation, in addition to illustrating children's books. The Harvey Milk Story  was my first picture book, and I got hooked.

I’m always curious about when visual artists began their art. Did you draw as a child? If yes, what was your family’s and teachers’ reactions to your art work?

One of my earliest memories is of my parents taking my three sisters and me to the theater to see Disney’s The Sword and the Stone, the first movie I sat still for instead of chasing my little sister up and down the aisle. I got kind of obsessed by that magic -- moving paintings! -- and my mom and my pre-school teacher were happy to oblige. Jumbo Crayolas and a coloring book were my "gateway drug." From there, I went on to drawing my own pictures, copying cartoon characters, mostly. My parents and teachers encouraged me, thank goodness. They made it possible for me to see the value in being creative. In first grade, Mrs. Hester thumbtacked my drawings on the corkboard border all around the classroom -- so of course I kept on drawing!

Tell us about your new book, Sarah Gives Thanks. How did the project evolve, what particular challenges did you face, and how did you solve them?

Sarah Josepha Hale was this powerhouse I'd never even heard of, a young widow, a successful poet, novelist, editor of writers like her friends Poe and Emerson, raising five kids on her own. Mike Allegra's manuscript moved me from the first paragraph.

One challenge was to capture her strong personality, dainty and forceful all at once. I kept her moving as much as possible, energetic, almost athletic, while wearing some bit of lace or a flowery shawl. Showing the passage of time was another challenge. I relied on costumes, sets, showing Sarah aging from eight to eighty, and showing her children growing up alongside her. Research was probably the biggest challenge. Books from our local library were essential, as always, for clothing history, architecture, hairstyles. I have stacks of printouts of details I found online, from Boston Harbor, 1832, to the size of a woman's bustle in 1863. I had to get every detail just right -- I owe that to the kids (and there are teams of sharp-eyed librarians out there, I'm told!).

Published by Albert Whitman, 2012

On your web site, Flying Dog Studio, you have the words illustration, animation and fine art? Do you enjoy creating each of these equally? How is each process different for you?

I do enjoy all three, for different reasons. With fine art, I can get lost easily, in the flow. It's relaxing to paint something that's right in front of me, and it informs everything else I do. Animation and illustration meant to so much me as a kid, I love carrying that forward. Reaching a broad audience is gratifying, too. But unlike fine art, I have to dive into my imagination while keeping someone else's story and production or printing guidelines in mind. It's a fun puzzle. Ultimately, all three forms are about storytelling for me, telling a story with pictures.

How do you like to relax, David?

Sitting on the back porch with a cup of coffee and a good book, the clouds skipping over the mountains. Heaven! And curling up with my partner and catching up on John Adams and Downton Abbey. These amazing, perfect blends of history and melodrama, they just whisk me out of my day for a while. Oh, and visiting with you is very relaxing, Pat!

Creativity Salon: an Interview With Poet Diana Garcia

Welcome to Bookjoy Creativity Salon, Diana! It was such a pleasure to meet and hear you at AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs) in Chicago last March. Your words about me at our panel were incredibly generous. I treasure them. Among other talents, you are a poet, a professor, and a committed advocate.

Diana, please tell us a bit about yourself.

“The biggest influences on me probably are being born to parents who worked in the fields and who were living in a labor camp when I was born. The camp and the people who lived and worked in the camp served as my earliest role models for what it is to live an honorable, hard-working life. At the end of your life, all you have is your reputation as a hard worker and the respect of those you worked with. Then, the San Joaquin Valley engraved its dry flatness on my consciousness. From an early age, I understood the importance of rain, the lack of rain when needed, the overabundance of rain at the wrong time. I reflect often on water and its many and various aspects. Finally, becoming a single mother when I was 20, struggling with the powerlessness of having to rely on welfare to make ends meet, filled me with a rage that's never completely left me. I discovered the tone deafness of those who have always known a privileged existence. It also makes me deeply grateful for all that I now have: a patient, generous husband and partner; parents, son and grandsons who make me proud to be part of the clan; and a university where I can teach what I've learned about writing and about living.”

Let me begin by asking about your work as a poet. You wrote the collection, When Living Was a Labor Camp, published in 2000. Such a moving title. Can you tell us about the impetus for that collection?

I wrote When Living Was a Labor Camp out of a deep commitment to the generations of farm workers whose sacrifices weren’t represented adequately in the poetry I read in the 1990s. In my own family, one uncle was poisoned and died after picking tomatoes in a field that had been sprayed with pesticides. Another uncle, a former bracero whose permit had expired, was picked up during Operation Wetback in the 50s and 60s and returned to Mexico. In both cases, the men left behind women who struggled to raise children on their own. I also wanted to capture the perseverance of the generations that followed, the children and grandchildren whose lives were impacted by prejudice. Finally, I wanted to write a book that my parents and my aunts and uncles could read, hear and understand and know their lives, and those of their children, were being honored.

In what ways does creativity shape your work and your life?
I have always trusted my response to the natural world, that sense of self that is best reflected by moments in nature. Similarly, when I write, I feel a sense of connectedness to the world around me, to the expressions and experiences reverberating in the world. Writing also is like intellectual weight lifting for me. Much as a sturdy weight lifting workout leaves me drained and tranquil, a good bout of writing leaves my brain strangely emptied and refreshed.

I know you teach an upper division course, Social Action Writing. How did that course evolve and can you tell us a bit about it?
California State University Monterey Bay, established in 1994, is the first university in the CSU system to require 30 hours of service learning at each of the lower and upper division levels. Within our interdisciplinary humanities and communication major, two such courses, “Social Action Writing” and “Creative Writing and Service Learning” (originally titled “Creative Writing for Teachers”), were developed as part of our creative writing and social action program. The focus is on learning as much as it is on service. We value the commitment our neighboring communities—Seaside, Salinas, Marina, Monterey and Pacific Grove—made to converting the former Ft. Ord to a university. Not just communities, but the neighboring counties of San Benito and Santa Cruz were also involved. We want our students to learn from this level of civic engagement, this commitment to the issues affecting our neighbors and colleagues. In “Creative Writing and Service Learning,” students focus on using creative writing to engage children’s creativity and imagination in after school and community school programs. In “Social Action Writing,” depending on the theme that semester, students might work with community partners examining substandard housing, pesticide poisoning, educational inequality, or the peace movement. Our partnerships are on-going and a vital part of our students’ education.

In a political introduction recently, Obama was described as “burning on the inside” referring to his passion for a just nation. Though I was only with you briefly, my sense is that Diana Garcia also burns on the inside. Am I right?
Injustices of any kind anger me, especially since in most cases, injustice is leveled by those with power against those who are voiceless and powerless.

What were you like as a child and what advice would you have given to that young, beautiful self?
As a child, I was a bookworm, reclusive, and living in a world of my imagination. I imagined a world of books, of teaching, of travel. I never would have imagined that all my dreams would come true, and then some!

Talking About a Writing Career

This summer, Cynthia Leitich Smith began a series of "Career Builders" interviews on her Cynsations blog. This week Pat is featured talking about creativity, a writing life, success and future goals.

There's also a 4 book giveaway so stop by now.

Creativity Salon: an Interview with Metal Artist Anna Jaquez

Anna Jaquez

Welcome to my Bookjoy Creativity Salon, Anna. You and I are both from El Paso, and you teach art at UTEP where I taught part-time and was an administrator. I feel so fortunate to have met you on recent visits and am amazed by the art you produce. Miniatures in metal, no less. I can’t fully express how honored I am that some of your pieces are based in my poems. The whole notion leaves me a bit breathless.

Please begin by briefly introducing yourself.

AJ: I was born and raised in El Paso, Texas shortly after my parents migrated from Mexico. I am a life long resident of El Paso where I graduated from UTEP with a BFA then MA in Metals, then went on to receive an MFA from NMSU in 1993. I am now an artist and a lecturer at UTEP, active in several art organizations.

Have you always thought of yourself as creative?

AJ: The word “creative” is problematic for me because it can be intimidating for what it represents. I remember feeling envious of my siblings’ artistic creativity when my mother would challenge us to draw and color a picture to see who could create the most beautiful piece. I would sit and stare at the blank white page, afraid of ruining the perfect white paper with my “uncreative” marks, a frustration that follows me to this day.

How do you nurture your creativity?

AJ: Nature often incites the flame of creativity, but music, poetry, and exploring other visual artists’ work helps focus my inspiration and nurture my creativity.

What are your challenges in your creativity practices?  Is fear an element?

AJ: I always fear that things will not progress smoothly, since failure with a technique can destroy the creative process or omission of the minutest details can adversely affect its creative impact.

Do you have a space that helps you be more creative?

AJ: I do have a few spaces throughout my house that are important in recharging my spirit, yet aside from feeding the spirit, an artist must have a workable space to accomplish what he/her sets out to do, and despite the tiny 12’x 16’ space, my backyard studio is quiet, well lit, and comfortable.

We’re including your pieces based on my poems. Can you tell us which poems, your titles for the pieces, and how you decided to create these them? What was the process?

AJ: “There Was a Woman”(from Agua Santa: Holy Water) left me with a desire to make a visual interpretation of the overwhelming essence of lemon and woman as envy incarnate. The idea for Limonacida evolved from countless readings of the poem to help identify the kind of imagery necessary to convey my view of the poem. I knew I wanted to incorporate the luscious yellow fruit cradled in hands throughout the tree; however, the concept for the squeezed half lemons was an after thought, to exaggerate the lemons to a point where the viewer could practically smell and taste them. The dark overtones of the knives refers to the woman’s piercing and cutting attitude, while the mountain of sucked lemons alludes to her rotting teeth – victims of acidic excess.

Limonacida

In contrast, Colibri Argentina: Argollada is a much softer approach. I relate to “Pajarita” (from Borders) because of how I see my own mother and how she seems to defy all the odds in her daily battle against Diabetes. Despite her tired, frail body, she continues to live as the woman described in the poem, quietly and subtly enjoying life’s small pleasures.

I love the puissance of the cage analogy, and how in my mother’s case, her home is a place of confining security. Even after my father’s passing, my mother seems to demonstrate her newfound liberty yet continues to be confined in the same cage.

Colibri Argentina:  Argollada

What is your advice to people who doubt their artistic ability?

AJ: Stephen Vollmer once told me, “I don’t believe there is any bad art, it is simply a stepping stone for the next piece.” Express your creativity, since you never know where your stepping-stones will lead.

Creativity Salon: an Interview with Dr. Janice Gould

I’ll begin the post by saying: Welcome to my Bookjoy Creativity Salon, Janice, and congratulations on recently receiving tenure at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. You are a new friend with whom I’ve so enjoyed spending time recently.

Photo by credit Jason Ordaz, School for Advanced Research, Santa Fe, NM

 1. You’re a poet, scholar, teacher, musician, photographer, a woman creative in so many ways. When and how did your awareness of your creativity begin?

JG: My mother encouraged my sisters and me to be creative when we were just little. She gave us lots of room to explore our world and to play. We made up stories and acted them out: we were pioneers, cowboys, Indians, detectives, railroad engineers, wanderers and explorers. I liked to draw and color; my mom was always enthusiastic about my work. She taught us music—we had a piano—and we were always singing. In first grade, I wrote a poem about the rain, and doing this I realized all in a flash how I felt about rain, how I perceived it.

Writing that little poem provided me with an opportunity to gain insight into how I connect with the natural world. I had found a new way to see things and it felt exciting and marvelous.

2. Thinking back to yourself in third grade, are you surprised at what you are doing now, at the woman you have become?
JG: When I was in third grade, I had a teacher who segregated our class, putting all the “dark” children together, and treating us one way, and placing all the white children together and treating them another way—giving them certain privileges, and treating us “dark” children as if we were too “dumb” to protest this. Back in those days, we learned folk dancing as part of our curriculum. The teacher didn’t want the white children to partner with the “dark” children.

My mother had talked with my sisters and me about discrimination based on race, something she had faced as a young person (and as an adult). It seemed wrong to me that the teacher had separated us children into distinct groups. I went home and complained about this to my parents. The sense of social justice and injustice my mom instilled in us still resides in me.

I was also sure from an early age that I wanted to be an artist. I loved drawing, enjoyed making music, and as a teenager began exploring poetry. I studied oboe, and when I started college, I majored in music. But because I liked to read and write, and because I was rebellious in my own way, I eventually followed the path of poetry.

After I realized that I was a lesbian (I was a teenager, and this was an era when people did not talk about sexuality or sexual orientation), I felt that there was no place where I could be naturally and truthfully myself. It was a very difficult time, and it took years before I felt comfortable being “open” about my sexual preference. As feminism emerged on the scene, making it possible for girls and women to dream and imagine different possibilities for themselves, the world opened up in new ways. I found I could live truthfully.

3. Family and nature seem deep sources of inspiration for your poetry, yes? Are they also sources for your other creative work?
JG: While family and the natural world are to be sources for my writing, it is the idea of relationship that motivates and inspires me. As a photographer—and I am an amateur at this practice—I love recording the natural world. I respond affectionately to “landscape” in my photographic work and also with my music.
Friendship and love are equally inspiring sources for writing. Perhaps inwardly (and against all reason), I am always fearful that love will withdraw, leaving me bereft, lacerated, and in a kind of despair. The power of that withdrawal is frightening to me. I have always pursued intense friendships and sought intensity in lovers. And like many artists and others, I desire praise; it helps feed creativity. “Am I connecting with you?” is my unspoken question.

4. Are your varied creative expressions connected?
JG: Yes, but I’m not entirely sure how. Music and poetry have much in common: sound, rhythm, and tone. My poetry tends to be lyrical—I sometimes use more formal structures to express an idea, though I also employ free verse. My work is also narrative. My impulse, again, is to connect with others through emotional knowledge, through the body’s knowledge.

I’m still learning how to take photographs. I notice in professional photography uses of lighting or coloring that ask me to look deeper, to observe the surface and also what lies below the surface, what emerges from another layer. I am drawn to work that is generous, inclusive, and affectionate, that helps us connect with the beautiful and fecund world.

5. You have studied and been inspired by the grand Spanish poet Federico García Lorca. What fascinates you about his voice on the page?
JG: Lorca seemed aware of the power that brings both life and death. He called it “duende,” a term that we associate with flamenco, with the movements and rhythms of dance, theater, and performance. In his famous essay on this subject, Lorca disposed of the muse and the angel, forces that worked for earlier generations of writers—those given to nostalgia or pure intellectualism. He wanted to tap into a stronger impulse, something that came right up out of the earth and entered the body, tearing away masks and pretences, useless language, politeness, effeteness. He wanted to connect with something that felt more raw, “primitive,” and truthful. For him, it seems, truth could be found in the magic of the natural world: in wind, shadow, snow, and water; in the various acids that eat away at surface; in death and decay.

While Lorca’s imagination could explore violence, he tempered violence with language, always aware of the sounds of lamentation, loneliness, and longing. As a homosexual living under the repressive order of that day and time, he probably experienced life as a surface, for when people cannot live openly, they must resort to secrecy and deceptions—ways to carry on their own natural impulses inwardly when the reality of the surface prohibits and disdains them. I believe that Lorca imagined the stultification and sterility of Spanish conservatism through a feminine reality (for example in his plays) because it was clear to him that women suffered from sexual and political repression. Yet Lorca’s voice seldom feels “political,” and never didactic. His approach was to encourage human connection through lyricism—song and music were important to him—and imagination, through a magical, sometimes whimsical, sometimes violent apprehension of the natural world and the world of human making.

6. In your essay in the book you co-edited, Speak to Me Words: Essays on Contemporary American Indian Poetry, you write, “We have to forgive our imperfections and heal the hole in our hearts that is left there by shame.” The book was published in 2003. What have you learned in the intervening years about the connection between creative work and healing ourselves?

JG: Healing is creative when it comprises a re-creation of self, the work of the psyche, the soul. As I think about my own inner work, I realize I have become clearer about what I want to do, and as importantly, what I do not wish to do. I have learned to say “no” to certain tasks that would take psychic time and energy away from writing poetry or music. Creative work is healing when it’s undertaken without guilt, when we move past the distractions that life presents. If we believe our job is to give back through our creative works, we must sometimes be “selfish” to accomplish this.

7. Any new projects you’d like to share with us?
JG: I’ve been working on a new manuscript of poems since 2009. I have several “gacelas” (a term I borrow from García Lorca), some lyric poems in free verse, and some that I term “prose poems.” I post some of my photos to my blog. And I continue to practice guitar and to write music for it and for accordion.

8. What makes Janice really laugh?
JG: I saw Marcel Marceau in performance once. He made me laugh because Bip was most always in a daydream, which meant that whatever he was trying to accomplish came with goofy mistakes (having to re-button his shirt many times, tripping over his own feet, trying to look nonchalant, even debonair, but slipping on a banana peel at the last moment). Bip had a sweetness and innocence that came from having an affectionate heart, a heart that took in all the world and gave it all back with the largest of grins, voicelessly.
Although Marceau has passed on, I still love Bip’s humanity and relate to his penchant for error. I enjoy being in the company of people who act from the heart, who are not afraid of silliness, who laugh with soft laughter.

Read Janice's blog and see more photographs.

Creativity Salon: David Fernández-Barrial and Jill Garcia

A few years ago, my escort at the National Book Festival in DC was gracious David Fernández-Barrial. I was intrigued by the specific work he does at the Library of Congress and am delighted that he agreed to participate in our Creativity Salon. I'm also pleased that he invited his colleague, Jill Garcia, to join us too.

1.What is the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped and what are your roles?

David: The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (also known as NLS) is the national library program for persons with blindness, physical limitations or print disabilities that prevent the reading or handling of standard print. NLS ensures that people who have difficulties reading standard print are still able to have access to reading. We are a part of the Library of Congress in Washington DC, which is the world's largest library!

Jill: I select the young adult and kid’s books that will be recorded as an audio book and/or read in braille. The titles we choose are for patrons across the entire U.S.

David: And I am the foreign-language librarian at NLS, responsible for selecting books in Spanish and other languages.

2. Do you consider yourself a creative person? If yes, how does your creativity affect your work?

Jill: Strangely enough, I never really thought about it. But I do get to be creative when I write the annotations for the books I select. We write short descriptions about the books for our patrons. And what really thrills me, is trying to create a summary that entices a person to read a book they normally would never pick up. Now that is pretty cool.

David: Yes, I think we are creative people. Our jobs involve creativity, but we also love words and book culture and actively participate in it. If you are a creative person, it is not as though you come to work and push that creativity aside: it informs everything you do. Outside of work I love to write, and have dabbled in different things like novels and short poems. And within the hallowed halls of the Library, I actively problem-solve, open my mind, and breathe in the centuries of human knowledge. Being creative is a lifelong process: it is about participating fully in the world and being aware of things. Being a librarian makes you hyper-aware of the larger, expansive, and active, volcanic world all around us. A world of becoming.

3. What are your two or three key challenges in the work you each do?

David: One challenge is that things happen very, very slowly in our workplace. We try to accomplish many things, yet they take time and much negotiation. What makes it so rewarding, though, is knowing that your job has such a positive impact on people’s lives.

Jill: My biggest, heartwrenching challenge is being limited on how many books I can select for the collection. I love them all, but I can only pick a small amount of what is published.

David: Yes, there are so many good books out there.

4. What were you like as a child? Were you a reader?


Jill: Given the amount of toys laying about at work, I think we both never grew up. Yes, I was a happy, lunatic reader as a child … I carried books with me where ever I went. I had a burning need to be surrounded by the magic of stories. I think that is why I grew up believing that anything is possible, if you just believe.

David: I was a gloomy and morose child, trapped in the world of imagination … no, I am joking. I still am a child. I loved (and love) to read, which is why being a librarian in the world’s largest library is really a kid’s dream job.

5. Día is one way I promote bookjoy. Do you see possible connections between your work and Día?


David: Día is about promoting bookjoy and inspiring the love of reading. We at NLS help provide access to all readers, including those who are multilingual or multicultural or just want to read books in other languages.

Jill: I agree. We love books and love to make people aware of the great diverse literature out there.

Pat: Many thanks again for your time.

David: It is our pleasure, Pat. It is an honor to talk about our program to let your readers know about how reading, literacy, accessibility of learning materials are a right for every person, including persons with disabilities. And that creativity and love of learning are alive and well in corridors of the temple of knowledge that is the Library of Congress.

Jill: Thank you, Pat. One very nice thing about our jobs is that we can meet great people like you!

Creativity Interview: Yuyi Morales

Like many, I admire the multiple talents of Yuyi Morales—author, illustrator, videographer, moving speaker. I also admire Yuyi's creative spirit. Many thanks, Yuyi, for making time for this interview.

1. What were you like as a child?
YM: A few things that described me as a child:
1. I liked drawing, and I practiced so much that I could draw my own face from memory.
2. I was obsessed with UFOs and constantly feared that extraterrestrials were coming to take me with them.
3. I liked reading, so I devoured all of the comic magazines my father bought on Sundays, the encyclopedia my mother bought for my sisters and I, and many of my father's books, all of which were not for children.
4. When I was five my mother taught me how to crochet, and I made myself a colorful vest and a hat. She also taught me how to knit and use the sewing machine. At school, she would encourage me transform simple school projects and written assignments into models, drawings, and little books.
5. I didn't have many friends, I was what people in Mexico call “seria”, which meant that I didn't talk or smile much.

2. My sense is that you have always thought of yourself as creative. How do you nurture your creativity?
YM: Everything in my life is an art project. Just like my mother helped me make simple tasks, like my homework, into creative endeavors, nowadays, most of the things that happen during my daily life, I tend to do it creatively. I love to read, and I have a great need for storytelling. I could watch movies everyday (but I don't because most nights I go to bed late drawing or painting). I like gardening and I look for the compositions and the mixing of colors. I like listening to music, and although I am not a musician, I like to make songs. I love to dance and so I take lessons, and I often break into dancing while I am working. I like taking photographs and sharing them. And I like making friends and loving them. And to me it is all art.

3. Is there a special space that helps you be creative?YM: My studio is the best place in the world. In my studio there is space to daydream, and there is space to work. Having tools around me excites me. I get carried away by thinking about what I could to with materials. But I also need inspiration and references, so having things to look at, as well as places for research such as the library and the internet, give me an urge to create.

4. What are your challenges at this point in your career?
YM: Time is one of my main challenges. I tend to want to have things to materialize immediately. So I have had to learn to be patient, to take my time, and to be gentle with myself and my work. Although I tend to be impatient, I try to take time to exercise, to learn new things, to be with my friends, family, and the people I love, and time to have sacred things in my life. Then, when I am in my studio, I constantly remind myself that steady work will give me the results I want.

5. You have a very intriguing web site. Did you design it yourself?
YM: Yes, I designed it myself a long time ago. At the time, I wanted to have a web site, and not knowing how to get someone to do what I wanted, I decided to learn to do it myself. My husband helped me choose a good book where I could learn HTML. Most of what I did was to take the same approach I use with my art: I played with it. The web page became another blank canvas to be creative with. The result seems to be  less functional and more surprising--you just never know what you might find there.

6. You were an early Día supporter. Tell us why and how you think we all could be more creative in promoting Día.
YM: To me Día de los Niños is a very significant day, because I grew up in Mexico where ever since I can remember, my family always celebrated it. When I arrived at the USA, I found myself celebrating alone with my infant son. I had no one else to celebrate it with. Years later, when I was already a published author, I began to be asked to come to libraries to celebrate with hundreds of children, and I couldn't have been more delighted! What was even better was that Día del Niño had been paired with something else I loved: books and reading.

Día de los Niños, Día de los Libros, is one of my favorite days of the year. I am sure that many people have come up with fantastic ideas to celebrate this day; my favorites would be the ones that bring together adults and children through books. Día de los Niños, Día de los Libros is not only a day for children to enjoy and love books, but is also a day for us, adults, to love and celebrate our children by sharing books, reading with them, and connecting forever in that way.

7. Any upcoming projects you want to share with us?
YM: I am currently putting the final touches to a book I wrote titled Niño. In this book there will be a lot of action, and more than one scary character brought from my childhood in Mexico. Also, I am working in a book I wrote about Frida Kahlo, and I have started illustrating a book about the poet Pablo Neruda.

8. How does Yuyi relax?
YM: I have my favorite spot in my garden where two colorful hammocks hang. There, when I need a good time to just be, I swing in one of them looking at the sky and the mulberry tree that holds them. Some times I fall asleep, just like when I was a baby and my mother lullabyed me to sleep, swinging in my crib made of a box weaved into a hammock above my parents bed. I close my eyes, and I am whole again.

Visit Yuyi's blog, Corazonadas.

Creativity Interview: Father Murray Bodo, OFM

Father Murray Bodo, a fellow Southwesterner though he has lived in Cincinnati for many years, is a treasured friend. All of us lucky enough to know Murray personally treasure him not only as a fine and prolific writer but as a raconteur who makes us laugh, and as a wise, compassionate and devout man. Welcome to Bookjoy Creativity Salon, dear Murray!

1. Little Louis Bodo who grew up in Gallup, New Mexico, now annually spends time in Italy. How did that happen and how has it affected your life and your writing?

MB: The first time I went to Italy was on a mission from my Franciscan Province to write a book about St. Francis. That was in 1972, and the book was Francis: The Journey and the Dream. A fortieth anniversary edition of that book is now available from St. Anthony Messenger Press. Then in 1976 I began leading pilgrimages as a staff member of Franciscan Pilgrimage Programs. I’ve been going to Italy for a couple of months in the summer or fall for 35 years now; it’s like a second home to me, especially Assisi where I continue to be inspired by the life and times of St. Francis and by the beauty of the Umbrian countryside and the enchanting streets of Assisi.

2. You were a teacher and professor for many years. Now you lead retreats. Do you miss teaching and what is the challenge of leading a retreat well?
MB: I do miss teaching. I taught for 36 years and loved my years in the classroom. But in 2002 I asked to be relieved of that ministry to devote my time to writing and leading pilgrimages. Interestingly, the challenges of a good retreat or pilgrimage are much the same as those of teaching: thorough and ongoing preparation, interesting delivery and lively inter-acting with the group; and, for me, prayer – my own and those supporting me and the retreatants, or pilgrims, with their prayers.

3. I believe I met you in 1989 in Cincinnati. During those 22 years, you have always been writing new poems and working on two to three books at a time. You amaze me. What keeps you writing at such a pace?
MB: I was asking myself that same question lately. For one thing I love writing and don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t write. And secondly, because of my age, I may be writing against time, trying to be an instrument of God’s Spirit while I still have it in me to create. But most of all, it is because writing is something I just have to do to be me. It’s intimately a part of my identity.

4. Have you always thought of yourself as creative? How do you nurture your creative life?
MB: I was the kind of kid who, as far back as I can remember, was always performing improvised skits for whoever could endure my extemporaneous plays. But it wasn’t till I was in high school that I discovered poetry as a creative outlet for me. Poetry, both reading it and writing it, gives me life; and I nurture that creative outlet by reading poets who stimulate my own writing and by walking, observing, meditating on the world around me and within me. I wait for a line, an image, or word to come to me.

5. What are your new writing projects?
MB: At present I’m completing a new book of poetry, Something Like Jasmine, which will be released by Tau Publishing in early 2012. I’m also working on the introductions for a St. Francis Day Book, which I’m co-authoring for St. Anthony Messenger Press with Pat McCloskey, a Franciscan confrere. In addition, I’m writing a small pamphlet on Pilgrimage that will be published by Abbey Press in their Prayer Notes series.

6. What makes Father Murray laugh?
MB: Usually, its human nature and the goofy, inconsistent things we all do, especially when we’re trying to be serious, and instead we tickle someone’s funny bone. But animals and birds make me laugh even more. I love to observe their antics, their play, and their inexhaustible curiosity.

Creativity Interview: Dr. Monica Rosas-Baines

I’ll begin by saying: I’m the proud aunt of one niece, thus my favorite niece, Dr. Monica Rosas-Baines. Welcome to Bookjoy Creativity Salon, dear Niki! I’ve been so impressed by your work with Latinas Juntas.


1. When and why did you decide to become a psychologist?
NR: I wish I had a romantic answer, like all my life I knew that I wanted to work in mental health but truthfully, it was somewhat by accident. I started off as a biology major, thinking maybe I’d be a vet. I took Abnormal Psychology as an elective and fell in love (well that’s romantic, I suppose). I was completely intrigued by the different disorders and theories of psychopathology. I began taking more courses in psychology and eventually changed my major. I decided to become a psychologist because I enjoy studying people and helping them understand the reasons they think, feel and behave as they do. It’s extremely rewarding to help people. I’m lucky that I can say I really love my job.

2. How did Latinas Juntas begin?

L: Dr. Denna Sanchez; R: Dr. Monica Rosas-Baines

NR: My dear friend and fellow campus psychologist, Dr. Denna Sanchez, and I observed that our Latina patients reported similar cultural pressures that often made their academic journey more challenging… issues like family and gender role conflicts, lack of role models, isolation on campus and personal insecurities. These clinical observations as well as our own identification with these issues inspired us to design a program to offer support and mentorship. We know that not every Latina is interested in personal counseling so we wanted to develop a forum where we could address these issues and help them create a supportive network.

3. What have been the key challenges? The rewards?
NR: Fortunately, our campus administrators, faculty and staff are very supportive of our efforts. However, the budget for these kinds of student support events is shrinking.

I can’t say enough about the rewards. Every year I get to help create a sense of community among our Latina students and staff. Evaluations from student participants invariably include comments about how they are inspired by the faculty, Dr. Sanchez, and me. However, I’m not sure that our students are aware of how much they inspire us. Their perseverance in spite of cultural pressures and personal challenges is remarkable and it is an honor to work with them. By the end of the day, there is a palpable sense of unity, empowerment and cultural pride in the room. It’s a very special day.

4. Do you think of yourself as creative? How has your creativity and that of your colleagues strengthened this initiative?
NR: I would say that I’m creative, and my creativity is enhanced by working with a partner who is enthusiastic and creative as well. Our event is annual, so we try to make it so that students can get a different experience each year. This event has really stretched my creative muscle because we’re always thinking of new and fun activities that will inspire dialogue and sharing. It really helps to work as a team because we can bounce ideas off of each other regarding large and small group activities, guest speakers, art projects, etc.

5. Do you know of any other campuses in your area or in CA who are following your good example?
NR: Yes, in fact it was our participation as small group facilitators at the Latina Connection Conference (offered through California State University, Long Beach) that inspired us to create a similar program on our campus. I am unaware if other college campuses provide similar programming although I have provided consultation to staff members at Washington and Texas campuses that are interested in creating programs for Latinas.

6. I know you’ve always been a reader. What kind of books do you enjoy?
NR: My husband always teases me that I only like tragedies. I will admit that I am drawn to novels, particularly memoirs, about people who have survived difficult challenges, whether it’s abuse, poverty, loss, etc.

Click here to read an article about Latinas Juntas.


Attendees at the Latina Juntas conference listen as a student reads "University Avenue," a favorite poem of Niki's, written by her aunt, Pat Mora.



Creativity Interview: Monica Brown

I’ll begin by saying: I’ve had the pleasure of occasionally spending time with warm, energetic and talented Monica Brown. Congratulations on your eleven wonderful children’s books, Monica! Welcome to Bookjoy Creativity Salon!

1. You are an author, presenter, professor, friend and inspiration to many, and a family member. Wow! Do you enjoy your academic life?
MB: I do enjoy being a professor—for the decade before I started writing children’s books I had the pleasure of teaching and writing about the most amazing Latino/a literary works and introducing college students to new worlds of literature. I think the best preparation for writing is reading, so I had the best training of all. First, teaching, researching, and talking about Latino/a literature and then I began creating Latino/a literature for children, inspired by the birth of my two daughters, Isabella and Juliana. I wanted them to know who Gabriela Mistral was, who Celia Cruz was.

2. Is there a connection between that life and your work as an author for children? Has being a writer changed your teaching?
MB: The two are intimately connected, in mostly positive ways. For example, when I was researching my book on Gabriel Garcia Marquez, I decided to develop a new class—a comparative literature of the Americas. I taught a senior seminar that compared magical realist texts by U.S. Latino/a authors such as Luis Urrea’s The Hummingbird’s Daughter, Ana Castillo’s So Far from God, and Marie Arana’s Cellophane to South American novels such as Isabel Allende’s House of Spirits and Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s seminal One Hundred Years of Solitude, a book that changed the direction of my life. I first read One Hundred Years of Solitude when I was a senior in high school and it captured me as no other, perhaps before or since. This teaching and writing led me to the publication of my very own magic realist text for children, Chavela and the Magic Bubble.

3. Tell us briefly about your publishing journey and your newest books.

MB: My publishing journey is long in that it started, I think, long before I published my first children’s book, and even before I published my first scholarly book. My mind, even as a child, was never quiet, for better or for worse. In some ways I had a fairy tale journey into children’s books because the first manuscript I ever wrote, on Gabriela Mistral, secured a publisher and the first book I ever published, My Name is Celia: The Life of Celia Cruz/Me Llamo Celia: La Vida de Celia Cruz (and the second I wrote), was honored with awards. But I like to say that I spend years honing my craft—first as new graduate working as a journalist in Guadalajara in 1991, and then through my scholarly writing in graduate school and beyond. I was very lucky to meet my agent, Stefanie Von Borstel and her partner, Lilly Ghahremani, who were two amazing women of color just founding Full Circle Literary. So in addition to having a supportive husband and family, I had an amazing Latina agent who had my back and shared my vision.

4. Are you connected to sharing bookjoy through Día?
MB: I am connected and committed to sharing bookjoy through Día! I’m not sure that folks who haven’t been to a Día celebration can fully understand the joy and delight on the faces of children. There are worlds between the pages of books, and when I’m reading and working and playing with children at a Día event, I am bringing them on an adventure to these new worlds.

5. Did you always want to be a writer?
MB: I always wanted to express myself creatively, and that took different forms. Theater was probably my first venue of creative expression, and then books and writing. Believe it or not, being an English major seemed a lot more “practical” than being an actor or director! For this reason, I enjoy the performative aspects of working with children and Día and during presentations, I involve children in the music and dance of my books. I joke that my presentations are up and out of the rocking chair.

6. Have you always thought of yourself as creative? How do you nurture your creative life?
MB: My mother was an amazing artist and she nurtured me and inspired me. I also grew up in a home surrounded by incredible art, which I feel helped me think visually and helped me to better write for artists. The picture book is the meeting place of text and art, after all. My mother also instilled confidence in me, something that any writer needs, because no matter how good you are, rejection becomes a regular presence for writers. But in the present, the way I nurture my own creativity by be open to the magic and sometimes craziness of each and every day. Laughter is a big part of that, and also searching out new experiences. I often find inspiration and renewal in the works of my fellow artists—in writing, film, theater and music.

7. Are you working on other writing projects?
MB: I am working on several projects—in my mind at least. Part of the work will have to wait until I go on sabbatical next year. The hardest part about being an academic as well as a children’s author is simply my lack of time. I want to write, but during the semester, my students need to come first, not to mention my daughters, my family, and my community! With so much negativity going on in my state around issues of immigration there are some things that are politically pressing. Luckily, when I do have the time to write, I can be very focused. My most immediate plans are to finish a middle grade novel based on the character in my new picture book, Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match.

8. What is a favorite time of your day?
MB: I like different times of day for different reasons. Afternoon naps are delicious, but so is sharing a cup of coffee with my husband in in our backyard underneath the ponderosa pines. When my daughters were little, there was no greater joy than Saturday and Sunday mornings when they tumbled into bed with us. Now that I have a teen and a tween, I look forward to picking them up from school and hearing about their days—they usually both talk at once in a jumble. As for writing, it really only ever is the mornings for me, when my energy is up and things are at their most hopeful.

 View book trailers.       

See teacher resources for Monica's books on her website.
   
Read a  downloadable bio and brochure.

Creativity Interview: Guadalupe Garcia McCall

I’ll begin by saying:  Who has her first book coming out this fall?  My guest Guadalupe Garcia McCall. Her verse novel, Under the Mesquite, will be published in September. I met Guadalupe through e-mail, and we soon discovered our many connections including a love of nature.  Congratulations on your verse novel, Guadalupe and welcome to Bookjoy Creativity Salon!

1. So how does it feel to have your first book published?
GGM: This is an amazing feeling, indescribable. When the ARCs first came in, I walked around the house holding it like a baby, carrying it everywhere. I would stand it on the counter and look at it while I cooked. I stood it next to me on my desk and watched it while I worked on novel number 2. I think I read it in ARC form like 20 times because it was such a dream come true.

2. Tell us about your publishing journey.


Under the Mesquite (Sept. 2011)

 GGM: It has really been quite a journey. Under the Mesquite started as a collection of poems I wrote over many years when I wanted to "show" my students how easy writing poetry can be. They would say, "This is hard," and I would show them how easy it was by just taking a memory and turning it into a poem in class. Of course, I had to rewrite it for every class, so by the end of the day, the poem was usually revised several times. I started collecting these "little poems" and when I had about 35 of them, I sent them out. Emily Hazel, my editor at Lee & Low, saw the potential for a novel in verse in them, and the rest is history.

3. Did you always want to be a writer?
GGM: Oh, yes, always. My first memories of writing are special. My father taught me to write so that I would be "prepared" for school in the United States. I loved listening to the pencil "whisper the words" as it travelled on the paper with his hand guiding mine. But the one who really put the idea in my head was my third grade teacher, Mr. Hernandez. After he read one of my stories (I was in a bilingual classroom, so I wrote it in Spanish) he asked me if I had written the story by myself. I said I had, and he said, "Someday, you're going to be a writer." Of course, hearing him say it cemented it in my head. It's amazing the profound effect a good teacher can have on us. If Mr. Hernandez hadn't said it quite like that, I might not have grown up believing it.

4. Have you always thought of yourself as creative? How do you nurture your creative life?
GGM: I have always loved the arts. My father, who was a carpenter, was very creative. He used to play the guitar, sing, and draw. One day, I came home from school crying because my teacher had given me a zero on a drawing of the earth. He sat down and taught me how "easy" drawing could be. It opened up the world of art for me.

My mother too was instrumental in helping me find my creativity. She recognized that I was "artistic" before I did and enrolled me in singing, dancing, and acting classes in Mexico when I was in elementary. I love to sing (although, I am not good at it) and still draw. I nurture my creative side by staying close to nature. I find nature is the most artistic entity of all. The movement of the elements as they interact is dance, the sounds of water and fire and air is music, and everything that happens on our planet is performance, and it's all out there, a feast for the senses, if we just open our eyes and feel and look with our hearts.

5. You are an experienced and committed teacher. What are your key challenges as a teacher? As a writer?
GGM: As a teacher and as a writer and as a mother and also as a person, I find that my biggest challenge in life is patience. I am not as patient as I'd like to be with myself or others. I like to finish things fast. I love movement and productivity. It comes from having two very hard working parents and also being somewhat of a perfectionist. So, every day I pray for patience and force myself to wait for perfection to come at its own pace and dressed in its own favorite outfit, not mine.

6. Are you working on other writing projects?
GGM: Oh yes. Absolutely. I am always writing. I finished revising Six Little Sisters last month. It is a multicultural novel (prose) with lots of magic realism, and I hope to find it a home someday soon. And now I am finishing up another novel-in-verse tentatively titled I Am Joaquin. It is a multicultural YA historical piece based on the conflicts in South Texas resulting from the Plan de San Diego in 1915. I have to say I am really taken by the voice of Joaquin and the story he has to tell. I Am Joaquin deals with rebellion and social injustice, but, at the heart of it, is a story about a boy, his family, and the girl he loves.

7. What do you do to relax?
GGM: Believe it or not, I write to relax. To sit in front of the computer means that I have time away from everything else that is ordinary and average. To sit in front of the computer means that I am on "vacation" from my life. I love to sit and daydream and think profoundly about life. Don't get me wrong, I am a social person. I have many friends and I love to talk, but to be able to sit and think, that is special. That's having time for myself. Time to do what I want.

More information:
Read an interview with Guadalupe at BookTalk on the Lee & Low website.
Visit Guadalupe's website.

Creativity Interview: Margarita Engle

I've had the pleasure of visiting with Margarita Engle, reading her books and savoring the Colorín Colorado interview below. I strongly recommend that you watch the interview for many reasons including to hear Margarita's eloquent response to why she writes in free verse.

Margarita, welcome to this Bookjoy Creativity Salon.



Photo by Marshall W. Johnson

 Hello, my name is Margarita Engle, and I write young adult novels in free verse, primarily about Cuban history. Although I was born in Los Angeles, my mother is from Cuba. When I was a child, we spent summers on the island, and I developed the deep attachment that inspires my writing.

1. You've said you were a book worm as a child and connected that to then becoming a writer. Many readers, though they may love reading, do not become writers. How/why, then, do you think your writing life began?
ME: I loved The Black Stallion, and Island of the Blue Dolphins. Both were books about children stranded on islands, trying to survive. Looking back, I think I must have related to those stories because of the Missile Crisis, travel restrictions, and my own sense of isolation from Cuba. Growing up in the hectic city of Los Angeles, I craved the peace of nature. Writing was an exploration, and an escape. I started writing lyrical nature poems when I was very young. The only one I vaguely remember was about dry hills that looked like brown lizards. I do remember that writing felt comforting, and it still does.

2. Your books have appropriately received many awards. You are the first Latina (o) to receive a Newbery Honor Award, yes? What is your reaction to that fact?
ME: I walked through the Newbery ceremony in a daze. To this day, I still suspect that I might have been dreaming. I didn't realize how much it meant to the Latino community, until I was included in articles and books about women who changed America. It's humbling too, because all I did was daydream on paper. I feel like I'm standing on the shoulders of Latino earlier Latino authors who were not honored.

3. What is your personal writing challenge?
ME: There are so many tempting stories, and so many fascinating subplots. It's easy to get sidetracked. Each time I start a book, I have to write a note to myself about the theme. Later, when I feel confused, I can read the note and remember what I'm really trying to say. When I finish the book, the note becomes my "Author's Note."

4. Have you always thought of yourself as creative? How do you nurture your creative life?
ME: I have always been a daydreamer. My mother must have mistaken my daydreams for philosophy, because when I gazed into space, she would tell people not to bother me while I was thinking! She understood the key to creativity: quiet time. In the modern world, that means turning off noisy gadgets and electronic interruptions. I need time alone in a hammock, or out in the woods, walking... Many great poets (Antonio Machado!) have been avid walkers. The rhythm of footsteps turns into the music of verse.

5. Would you like to tell us about the projects you're working on or topics that intrigue you, those, to use your words, that now "haunt" you?

ME: My next novel in verse is The Wild Book, scheduled by Harcourt for March, 2012. Unlike my historical books, this one is completely personal. It was inspired by stories my grandmother told me about her childhood. She grew up on a farm during the chaos following the U.S. occupation of Cuba after the "Spanish-American" War. She also had dyslexia, so the book is dedicated to reluctant readers. Exploring my grandmother's childhood, and taking on her voice, was an emotional experience!

My next picture book is about search and rescue dogs, it's scheduled by Holt/Macmillan for 2013. This topic comes from my husband's volunteer work, training our two dogs in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. I am a volunteer "victim." I hide in the forest, so the dogs can practice finding a lost hiker.

6. You've talked about writing about people who made "hopeful choices." In what ways is writing a "hopeful" choice for you?
ME: I won't write a story for young people unless it has a hopeful ending, so every time I start exploring some complex historical situation, I'm forced to choose the optimistic aspects. I can only go ahead with the project if I discover that there were people who were kind while surrounded by cruelty, or fair while surrounded by injustice. If I don't find documented examples of admirable qualities, I drop that project, and move on to something else.

7. To end on a lighter note, what makes Margarita really laugh?
ME: Animals and folklore! In my daily life, our dogs make me laugh. They help me remember how to be silly. In my literary life, the exaggeration found in Cuban folktales is hilarious. I am trying to include some of that folklore in my writing.



Visit Margarita Engle's website.