I shared, they listened
we engaged in the need for
more writing to heal
My haibun today is in reverse – my haiku is first, my narrative is second, but I’m also adding pictures to make it an illustrated haibun.
The evening kicked off with Craig Logan’s welcome to TUAC and introduction, and then I was honored to share the journey of my writing group’s most recent books after the publication of Bridge the Distance and Rhyme and Rhythm: Sports Poems for Athletes. I printed these notes and placed a copy on the podium to guide me through the evening.
Book Talk Agenda and Talking Points – October 3, 2025 6:30 p.m. TUAC – Thomaston, GA
Agenda Timeline
6:30 – Welcome/introduction/talk
7:00 – Stop talking and take Q and A, Drawing for free books from David’s Bust Vase
7:30 – Reception, Meet and Greet, Book signing
Talking Points
Thank you for coming!
Land Honorarium of Place, Native Tribes, People, Our Stories (keyword for the evening)
In The Beginning:
Write before Read – – the photograph of Dad’s stacks of books/me as a baby seated among them/ him studying/ firm roots in books and language
Crayons – writing in the books, or how I to read and write using Crayola names of colors
Childcraft – Harold Monro “Overheard on a Salt Marsh” Poem fixation, and….
a Child’s Garden of Verses – two copies by age 6
Checklist Book: Memoir, my first book – Father, Forgive Me: Confessions of a Southern Baptist Preacher’s Kid
The Middle:
Mother’s death, NCTE Convention, and Sarah Donovan with The Groups at www.ethicalela.com that emerged ~
Bridge the Distance (Oral History Project through Oklahoma State University)
Rhyme and Rhythm (an invitation to an anthology – read Golden Shovel)
And then……we coded prompts since 2016. Predominant themes emerged: Healing, Assessment, Community Spirit, Technology uses, and Teachers’ needs for shorter texts and stories
Who wants to work on which books? We made groups.
- 90 Ways of Community by Sarah Donovan, Maureen Ingram, and Mo Daley (Read poems from here) – Mo Daley’s poem – “She Told Me Many Months Later”
- Just YA an anthology of over 15 writers
- Words that Mend: The Transformative Power of Writing Poetry for Students, Teachers, and Community Wellbeing and The Authors
- ePoetry by Sarah Donovan and Stefani Boutelier was picked up by a a major education publisher and will come out in 2025
- Assessing Students with Poetry Writing Across Content Areas: Humanizing Formative Assessment for Grades 6-12 by Sarah Donovan, Barb Edler, Kim Johnson, Anna Roseboro, and Gayle Sands is under contract with Routledge and will come out in 2025
The Conclusion:
Keep writing – set a timer – tell your story. Write it down. SHARE it. Your story matters.
Q&A
*Photos shared with me by Bethany Johnson and Briar Johnson, and I am ever appreciative of my sister-in-law and my husband for their outpouring of love and support!
Common Threads 