Video interviews with Jane Yolen:
http://www.adlit.org/authors/Yolen/
Saturday, June 30, 2012
"But I need to step back a minute to explain how a writer
falls into a book. Because–at least for me–that tumble down the rabbit hole of
verse or story is a necessary part of writing.
I have often told
anyone who would listen to me that the Japanese have a word for it:
saku-taku-no-ki.
Saku–the special
sound a mother hen makes tapping on an egg with her beak.
Taku–the sound a
chick makes tapping from within.
No-ki–the moment the
tappings come together.
Saku-taku-no-ki–the
instant a chick pecking on the inside and the mother pecking on the outside
reach the same spot. The egg cracks open. New life emerges.
In just that way a
story begins, with a physical tapping on the outside: a line of a song that
won’t leave your head, an article in the newspaper that strikes a chord, a
fragment of conversation that loops endlessly, a photograph or painting that
touches you deeply, a repeating dream. And then the answering emotion that taps
within, sometimes days, weeks, years later. The moment they come together, the
story starts."
-
- Jane
Yolen
Friday, June 29, 2012
“ ‘Frederick, why don’t you work?’ They asked. ‘I do work,’
said Frederick, ‘I gather sun rays for the cold dark winter days.’ . . .
Frederick seemed half asleep. ‘Are you dreaming?’ They asked reproachfully. But
Frederick said, ‘oh no, I’m gathering words, for the winter days are long and
many.’ “ – Leo Lionni
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