The Art of Novels-In-Verse
Date: Wednesday, May 14th& Thursday, May 15th 2025.
Time: 6:30 – 8:30 PM (ET)
Format: Virtual workshop on Zoom
GUEST WRITERS: SUSAN HOOD (5/14) & LESA CLINE-RANSOME (5/15)
Taught By: Georgia Heard, Rebecca Kai Dotlich & Bev Gallagher
Join us for an incredible two-evening workshop online at The Poet's Studio dedicated to the Art of Novels-in-Verse! Designed for writers, poets, and educators, who want to explore the craft, process and teaching of this increasingly popular form — novels-in-verse.
Workshop Highlights
This workshop will be co-taught by acclaimed poets Georgia Heard and Rebecca Kai Dotlich, who will begin each session by guiding you through the poetic elements that bring novels-in-verse to life. Complementing their expertise, Bev Gallagher, a brilliant educator with decades of classroom experience—will explore the breadth of the genre and share invaluable tips for writing and teaching novels-in-verse.
Special Guest Writers
Each workshop will also feature insightful sessions with celebrated guest writers:
Susan Hood (on May 14th), award-winning author and poet of verse novels Lifeboat 5, Lifeboat 12, Alias Anna, and Harboring Hope, will share her unique process for blending poetry and history into compelling storytelling.
Lesa Cline-Ransome (on May 15th), acclaimed author of numerous award-winning books and the new novel-in-verse One Big Open Sky, will discuss her creative journey and how she integrates poetic language with historical narratives to craft powerful stories.
This workshop is ideal for writers wanting to experiment with a new form, poets looking to deepen your craft, and educators eager to introduce this wonderful genre to your students.
Join us for two evenings of craft and conversation as we explore the power and possibilities of novels-in-verse.
Date: Wednesday, May 14th& Thursday, May 15th 2025.
Time: 6:30 – 8:30 PM (ET)
Format: Virtual workshop on Zoom
GUEST WRITERS: SUSAN HOOD (5/14) & LESA CLINE-RANSOME (5/15)
Taught By: Georgia Heard, Rebecca Kai Dotlich & Bev Gallagher
Join us for an incredible two-evening workshop online at The Poet's Studio dedicated to the Art of Novels-in-Verse! Designed for writers, poets, and educators, who want to explore the craft, process and teaching of this increasingly popular form — novels-in-verse.
Workshop Highlights
This workshop will be co-taught by acclaimed poets Georgia Heard and Rebecca Kai Dotlich, who will begin each session by guiding you through the poetic elements that bring novels-in-verse to life. Complementing their expertise, Bev Gallagher, a brilliant educator with decades of classroom experience—will explore the breadth of the genre and share invaluable tips for writing and teaching novels-in-verse.
Special Guest Writers
Each workshop will also feature insightful sessions with celebrated guest writers:
Susan Hood (on May 14th), award-winning author and poet of verse novels Lifeboat 5, Lifeboat 12, Alias Anna, and Harboring Hope, will share her unique process for blending poetry and history into compelling storytelling.
Lesa Cline-Ransome (on May 15th), acclaimed author of numerous award-winning books and the new novel-in-verse One Big Open Sky, will discuss her creative journey and how she integrates poetic language with historical narratives to craft powerful stories.
This workshop is ideal for writers wanting to experiment with a new form, poets looking to deepen your craft, and educators eager to introduce this wonderful genre to your students.
Join us for two evenings of craft and conversation as we explore the power and possibilities of novels-in-verse.
Date: Wednesday, May 14th& Thursday, May 15th 2025.
Time: 6:30 – 8:30 PM (ET)
Format: Virtual workshop on Zoom
GUEST WRITERS: SUSAN HOOD (5/14) & LESA CLINE-RANSOME (5/15)
Taught By: Georgia Heard, Rebecca Kai Dotlich & Bev Gallagher
Join us for an incredible two-evening workshop online at The Poet's Studio dedicated to the Art of Novels-in-Verse! Designed for writers, poets, and educators, who want to explore the craft, process and teaching of this increasingly popular form — novels-in-verse.
Workshop Highlights
This workshop will be co-taught by acclaimed poets Georgia Heard and Rebecca Kai Dotlich, who will begin each session by guiding you through the poetic elements that bring novels-in-verse to life. Complementing their expertise, Bev Gallagher, a brilliant educator with decades of classroom experience—will explore the breadth of the genre and share invaluable tips for writing and teaching novels-in-verse.
Special Guest Writers
Each workshop will also feature insightful sessions with celebrated guest writers:
Susan Hood (on May 14th), award-winning author and poet of verse novels Lifeboat 5, Lifeboat 12, Alias Anna, and Harboring Hope, will share her unique process for blending poetry and history into compelling storytelling.
Lesa Cline-Ransome (on May 15th), acclaimed author of numerous award-winning books and the new novel-in-verse One Big Open Sky, will discuss her creative journey and how she integrates poetic language with historical narratives to craft powerful stories.
This workshop is ideal for writers wanting to experiment with a new form, poets looking to deepen your craft, and educators eager to introduce this wonderful genre to your students.
Join us for two evenings of craft and conversation as we explore the power and possibilities of novels-in-verse.
Guest Writer: Lesa Cline-Ransome (photo by John Halpern)
Lesa Cline-Ransome is the acclaimed author of numerous award-winning picture books that celebrate in story, Satchel Paige, an ALA Notable Book and a Bank Street College “Best Children’s Book of the Year, Major Taylor: Champion Cyclist, Young Pele: Soccer’s First Star, Words Set Me Free: The Story of Young Frederick Douglass, Benny Goodman and Teddy Wilson, My Story, My Dance, Just a Lucky So and So: The Story of Louis Armstrong, Germs: Fact and Fiction, Friends and Foes, Game Changers: The Story of Venus and Serena Williams and The Power of Her Pen: The Story of Groundbreaking Journalist Ethel Payne and Not Playing by The Rules: 21 Female Athletes Who Changed Sports. Her verse biography of Harriet Tubman, Before She Was Harriet received five starred reviews, was nominated for an NAACP image award, and received a Coretta Scott King Honor for Illustration. Her debut middle-grade novel, Finding Langston, was the 2019 winner of the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction and received the Coretta Scott King Award Author Honor. Leaving Lymon and Being Clem, both named Kirkus Best Books, completed the Finding Langston series. Lesa’s debut Young Adult novel, For Lamb, is based in Jim Crow Mississippi.
She lives in the Hudson Valley region of New York with her husband and frequent collaborator. They are parents of four incredible humans.
Guest Writer: Susan Hood (photo by Hugh Smith)
Susan Hood is the award-winning author of many books for young readers, including ADA’S VIOLIN; ALIAS ANNA; HARBORING HOPE; THE LAST STRAW: Kids vs. Plastics; LIFEBOAT 12; SHAKING THINGS UP: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World; TITAN AND THE WILD BOARS: The True Cave Rescue of the Thai Soccer Team; and WE ARE ONE: How the World Adds Up. Susan is the recipient of the E.B. White Honor Award, two Christopher Awards, the Américas Award, the SCBWI Golden Kite Award, and the Bank Street Flora Stieglitz Straus Award, given to “a distinguished work of nonfiction that serves as an inspiration to young people.” ALIAS ANNA was named a 2023 Sydney Taylor Notable Book and was a finalist for the 2023 National Jewish Book Awards.
On weekends, Susan honed her craft as a freelance author. She wrote board books, concept books, nonfiction, and beginning readers for kids ages 1-8, publishing with Disney, Fisher Price, Penguin Putnam, Scholastic, Sesame Workshop, and Simon & Schuster, among others. She wrote for parents and early childhood educators in The New York Times, Nickelodeon’s ParentsConnect, Sesame Street Parent’s Guide, Working Mother, and more.
Susan lives with her family and five-year-old pup in Connecticut and enjoys spending her summers on the water—swimming, kayaking, and sailing with her husband along the New England coast. Visit Susan at susanhoodbooks.com
Georgia Heard
Georgia Heard received the 2023 Excellence in Poetry for Children Award which honors a living American poet for their aggregate work for children ages 3-13. She is the founder of The Poet’s Studio and has taught at Poet’s House, Teachers College, Columbia University, Gothenburg University, and in schools around the world. She is a graduate of the Columbia University Writers’ Workshop.
She is a founding member of the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project and the author of 19 books. Her most recent poetry book & journal is A Field Guide to the Heart: Poems of Love, Comfort & Hope (co-authored with Rebecca Kai Dotlich), and an anthology of poetry The Woman In This Poem: Women’s Voices in Poetry. She is also the author of several children’s poetry books including Welcome to the Wonder House (Random House), My Thoughts Are Clouds: Poems for Mindfulness (Macmillan), and Boom! Bellow! Bleat! Animal Poems for Two Or More Voices (Astra Books for Young Readers).
Rebecca Kai Dotlich
Rebecca is a word collector, poet and picture book author who has written and published dozens of children’s books, including Lemonade Sun, One Day The End, The Knowing Book, What Is Science? Grumbles From the Forest (co-authored with Jane Yolen) and most recently Welcome To The Wonder House, (co-authored with Georgia Heard.)
Her poems have been included in many children’s poetry anthologies by Lee Bennett Hopkins and Paul B. Janeczko, as well as J. Patrick Lewis, Jane Yolen, Georgia Heard, Jack Prelutsky, Kenn Nesbit, Charles Waters and Irene Latham. Her books have been awarded a Boston Globe Horn Book Honor, The 2024 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, School Library Journal’s Best Books of 2023, a Golden Kite picture book Honor, a Bank Street Best and a Subaru SB&F Prize finalist. Her poems also appear in dozens of textbooks and magazines. She has served twice on the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry Committee.
She grew up in Indiana where she spent her days reading comic books and mysteries, ice skating on nearby ponds, building snow forts, and riding her bike on dirt trails by the creek. She spends most of her time in her writing room filled with vintage typewriters and small toys like cars and trolls, marbles and jacks. She can never have enough colorful notecards, notepads, and folders. And books! Piles of books! She’s a doodler, a scribbler, and a notebook keeper. Her favorite foods are spaghetti and pot pies. www.rebeccakaidotlich.com
Educator: Bev Gallagher
Bev Gallagher has worked as a classroom teacher and literacy coach for over 25 years. She has developed numerous professional development opportunities for teachers including Weaving Words where teachers worked alongside writers such as Jacqueline Woodson, Ralph Fletcher and Georgia Heard. She also coordinates Imagine the Possibilities, a guest artist series program, at Princeton Day School which brings authors, poets and illustrators for residencies. She teaches a graduate class, Research and Survey of Texts for Children and Adolescents at Rider University.
Educator: Susan Weintraub
Susan began her teaching career as an Assistant Professor of English at the Community College of Philadelphia, where she taught reading and writing to teen and adult English Language Learners for over a decade. After relocating to central New Jersey, Susan held multiple positions at Princeton Junior School, including school librarian, IB PYP (International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program) Coordinator, and most recently, 5th/6th grade classroom teacher.