Kindling Words East

I first heard of Kindling Words years ago from my island neighbor and veteran kids’ book creator, Anne Sibley O’Brien. It sounded like a heavenly gathering of writers, editors, and illustrators of children’s books that took place in January at some cozy B&B in Vermont, completely out of my league.

This year I was ready to get on the lottery list, thanks to the urging of my beloved critique group. But thanks to the post-holiday Covid surge, the event got bumped to end of March.

It was all worth the wait!

A new location, too. Annie and I drove down last Thursday to the new venue in Southbridge, MA. I admit I was ambivalent about going: I’ve been pretty isolated the past two years, have you? Would it be safe and could I possibly be social in a crowd again?

The first evening involved assigned seating and meeting new folks, plus introducing one of our dinner partners to the entire room, a sheer challenge for introverts. Yet, the vibe was welcoming, inclusive, and downright delicious.

A power outage upset the agenda, followed by a fire alarm. We exited the dining room as firetrucks arrived. Hello, hot stuff.

A blown transformer was repaired as we mingled in the drizzle..

The weekend’s theme was inspired by Amanda Gorman‘s poem The MIracle of the Morning:

We ignite not in the light, but in lack thereof,
For it is in loss that we truly learn to love.
In this chaos, we will discover clarity.
In suffering, we must find solidarity.

For it’s our grief that gives us our gratitude,
Shows us how to find hope, if we ever lose it.
So ensure that this ache wasn’t endured in vain:
Do not ignore the pain. Give it purpose. Use it.

On Friday morning, the symposium began with a riveting presentation by author Lesa Cline-Ransome, Finding Light in the Shadows. I’m excited to learn Lesa and her partner, illustrator James Ransome, will be visiting Peaks Island this summer as residents at the Illustration Institute. YESSS!!

Next up Shadra Strickland, brilliant illustrator and educator, presented The Grind and the Glory.

She shared her passion: “to teach children to live their dreams.” Meanwhile, she encouraged us to get specific about ours, to write them down, to declare what really matters to us. She shared her process and art movements that have inspired her approach. Bravo, Shadra!

During the break, I strolled outside with my hotel roommate and prolific author/illustrator, Maryann Cocca-Leffler, where the 100 year old optical factory meets the conference center.

We visited the “library” where all attendees left a book for display. How cool to be in this incredible company!

After lunch, we engaged in “spark spaces” in various conference rooms. These discussions were suggested on a big pad of paper by anyone who wanted to pursue a topic. I joined a hearty group talking about picture book biographies. The wisdom in that room was astounding! Immediately after that, I joined a group titled Book Marketing for Introverts led by Anne Hunter. There was talk of SEO, debut groups, and literary festivals. I kept wondering: how we do all this unpaid work that publishers once did as part of their bargain? Social media work is now an occupational hazard for every creative, and it’s a burden I often resent.

There was happy hour and dinner, followed by a Generative Workshop in the auditorium. We chose colorful papers and envelopes and pens to write our joys, sorrows, and intentions following a video of Amanda reading her poem.

A session of writing from prompts followed, and then a slideshow of all those in the children’s publishing world who had passed into their Next Chapter. Too many gems! Eric Carle, Beverly Cleary, Ashley Bryan, April Pulley Sayre, among so many others. I left completely drained and on the verge of tears.

We were invited to visit the bonfire and let go our little envelopes.

A small gathering in Jen Goldfinger’s room with a little wine helped bring laughter back.

If I thought Friday was non-stop, Saturday was over the top. Best-selling author Tracey Baptiste gave a perceptive and punchy talk, Afraid of the Dark. With images of dark clouds, a dark horse, and the Cookie Monster flashing behind her, she unpacked a deeply researched narrative on language studies.

This is what sets Kindling Words apart: the audience is not passive. Every speaker engaged us to write or draw from our parts untapped, and a few brave ones shared openly. Kudos to Tracey for the intensity, delivered with impeccable style and smart substance.

Next we were treated to the powerful presence of illustrator Vanessa Brantley-Newton with Making It on Broken Bits and Pieces.

Despite facing dyslexia and synesthesia Vanessa has become a “spreader of sunshine.” After twenty-five years of working in a hospital caring for babies with cancer, she found her audience in children’s books. And what a voice!!! She literally brought down the house with her singing. Vanessa, I bow down, ever grateful for your vision and passion.

At this point, I had dissolved: tears, insights, kinship with these humans, hunger, and being filled to the brim.

I met with amazing author and critique group partner, Jennifer Jacobson. We are doing a book together! Oh, Chickadee! will be published by McSea Books in 2023, and I couldn’t be more delighted. Pinching myself, in fact.

We went over changes to my first little sketch dummy.

I needed some outdoors.

There’s a back forty beyond the hotel where I startled a pair of geese strutting by the river’s edge.

I spied a marvel of turkey tail mushrooms on a stump!

I simply hung around the library and my hotel room upon return. I don’t even know what spark spaces I missed, I just had to reset my social meter with some solitude.

Here I want to applaud award-winning author Crystal Allen, Co-Director, for her warm welcome and gracious leadership. She made sure everyone was just where they needed to be!

And another round of applause for the wondrous author Alison James, Founder and Co-Director, who literally brought the fairy dust! Seriously, she had jars of mica to make everything shine. And my bottle of Treewild casts a magical spell. Thank you!

Saturday night’s Candlelight Readings were a tremendous high point, to finally connect a face with a story or image.

I LOVED LOVED LOVED hearing people read, even a tantalizing 250 words! I ventured to share some pages from my recycled sketchbook, where I am percolating a picture book biography of Beatrix Potter as a young mycologist.

My critique partner, Jen Goldfinger, shared sketches. She’s got an upcoming book, Daisy the Dreamer, with Neal Porter Books.

And our beloved Critter, JJ, also read a sweet bit of magic.

Somewhere in there, we received beautiful prints of either Vanessa’s or Shadra’s illustrations. Gorgeous and generous souvenirs of an epic Kindling Words!

Eventually we closed the evening in the library, among our books and bottles of wine.

These hearty souls by the bonfire, I see you! You warmed my heart with song and poetry on the spot.

Sunday morning: do we look spent or sparked to the max? I owe much to this lovely critique group, that I call the Critters. Without their gentle but persistent nudging and support, I might not have a new book or feel qualified to be at Kindling Words. Thank you, wild things.

The finale for illustrators was a workshop, Ignite the Spark! with Vanessa Brantley-Newton and Shadra Strickland. I only wish this had come sooner, because it was BEYOND fun to play with all that they brought to the table. We watched a nostalgic clip of Disney illustrators painting the same oak tree, both amusing and fascinating. Shadra invited us to tear up her 8-color block prints left from a book. Say WHAAAT?!

It felt wrong to tear up such beautiful art, but I did steal a few bits for my collages. The big surprise was using some ink and breyers to make a textured background.

Here’s a collage by Laya Steinberg that blew me away, a perfect visualization of the feelings, wounds, and growth coming out of this gathering.

Leave it to awesome Annie O’Brien to create a brilliant collage, with a little shine, too! This captures the spirit of Kindling Words, how we spark each other to be our brightest selves.

May we return to our calling, making the best books a child needs to have their lights shine. Thank you for reading!