Friday, August 17, 2007

A Little Poetry for You: Giovanni

Happy Poetry Friday!

I ran across this tonight, and thought all the librarians out there might like it.

My First Memory (of Librarians)
by Nikki Giovanni

This is my first memory:
A big room with heavy wooden tables that sat on a creaky
...............wood floor
A line of green shades—bankers’ lights—down the center
Heavy oak chairs that were too low or maybe I was simply
..............too short
............................For me to sit in and read
So my first book was always big
Go here for the rest of this poem.

Go here for a bio of Nikki Giovanni.

And GO HERE for an interview with Nikki Giovanni talking about poetry and books and life. I liked this in particular: "There's no life in safety.... It prevents you from greeting the world with open arms." I also really enjoyed how she ended with a bit about making poetry accessible. Worth a listen!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh I just love this. Thanks, Nancy!

Anonymous said...

Awesome.

In one of my grad school classes on children's lit, my prof handed out a typed-up list of quotes about the library by authors and such -- some positive, some dreadful (her point being to start a discussion with us about the importance of a welcoming atmosphere in our libraries). I should go find that.

Thanks for the great poem.

Elaine Magliaro said...

Nancy,

Great selection...excellent post! Enjoy the weekend.

tanita✿davis said...

Ooh, we were just talking about her last night! Thanks for this -

Sara said...

Nikki was at the L.A. SCBWI conference, and I actually got to talk to her.

I love this as a first memory. Mine is of something mundane: cracks in the sidewalk.