When I first got to UH, there were a few young women who were my SHEROS. Brave and talented, these women were smart, savvy teachers and writers and battled gender stereotypes every day. In particular, I resonated with the work and personality of Yvonne Murphy, a poet who also taught for Writers in the Schools. When the WITS staff tapped her as my mentor, I was more than delighted, and went along to the elementary school where she was working with the children on literary techniques like rhyme and onomatopoeia. There's a lot of attention to sound in Yvonne's work, and she was giving those children the gift of that attention. I watched as she taught them to hear the music in other people's poetry and, more importantly, to find the hums and rhythms within themselves.
If you have time today, I hope you can listen to the music of Yvonne's own words, as she reads from her new poetry collection, Aviaries. It's longish (23 minutes, roughly), so you might want to wait until you have the space in your schedule to do it. But if the well is at all dry, I encourage you to dip in and experience Yvonne, the person and the work.
If you have time today, I hope you can listen to the music of Yvonne's own words, as she reads from her new poetry collection, Aviaries. It's longish (23 minutes, roughly), so you might want to wait until you have the space in your schedule to do it. But if the well is at all dry, I encourage you to dip in and experience Yvonne, the person and the work.
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