How do you write a book for the toughest audience -- kids?  With busy bodies and short attentions spans, your writing better be up for the challenge of engaging little ones. Children's author and poet Matt Forrest Esenwine will share some secrets about timing, cadence, story concept, and rhyming.  We'll also explore children's poetry, a little-known niche that captivates the smallest of readers. 

 

Matt Forrest Esenwine’s poetry has been published in various collections including the upcoming Donald Hall tribute anthology, "Except for Love" (Encircle, 2019)., and in 2012 his poem, “Apple-Stealing,” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Meanwhile, his children’s poetry can be found in anthologies like The National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry and The Poetry of US (National Geographic Children’s Books, 2015 & 2018) and “Highlights for Children” magazine. His picture book, Flashlight Night (Boyds Mills Press, 2017), received a starred review from Kirkus, critical national praise, and was selected by the New York Public Library as one of the Best Picture Books for Kids of 2017.

 

Matt lives in Warner, NH with his wife and kids, and has many more children’s books & poems contracted for publication in the next few years.