PLAYING WITH POETRY with Joanne Esser

Sparked by reading aloud – and maybe acting out – some fun, child-friendly poems, children from preschool to 2^nd grade and a parent, grandparent, or other caregiver are invited to work together to create their own original poems. The adult will act as a “scribe” to write the words the child dictates, collaborating to make something new. We’ll craft simple small books to hold your written words to take home.

Joanne Esser is the author of the poetry collection Humming At The Dinner Table, the chapbook I Have Always Wanted Lightning, and the forthcoming All We Can Do Is Name Them (Fernwood Press, 2023). Recent work appears in Wisconsin Review, I-70 Review, Plainsongs, and Orange Blossom Review. She earned an MFA from Hamline University and has been a teacher of young children for over forty years. She lives in Eagan, Minnesota with her husband.