THE VERSE NOVEL...
I recently went to a workshop on the verse novel by poet/ author Lisa Jacobson . Lisa was a great teacher, inspired and passionate about poetry. Eager to support us into 'having a go'. Now the verse novel is something I have read, read quite a few actually over the years, and enjoy. I even attempted one quite a while ago---I am a bit of a dabbler (aka will give most things a go). I always enjoy a workshop, no matter what genre or form, because I always take something away. Sometimes new information, sometimes a reinforcement of what I know but need to hear again...but I always leave ready to write and with a few new ideas floating around. One of the first verse novels I read was Karen Hesse's Out of the Dust which I loved. It made me want more. Since then I've read Dorothy Porter and Steven Herrick, Catherine Bateson and Libby Hathorn, Margaret Wild and David Levithan- mostly YA or children's I must admit but I am beginning to read more widely. I ...