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Poem or Picture Book: Writing the Lyrical Children’s Book
$85
Do you write poetry and wonder if you could turn your poems into picture books? Do you write picture books and want to make them more poetic? Explore the wavy grey line between poem and lyrical picture book.
In this collaborative workshop, we’ll study some masters of the lyrical picture book, look at some new picture books coming out by well-known poets, and explore the roles of language, perspective, page turns and “illustratable moments” in separating these two closely related crafts.
Participants will come away with tools to help their picture book texts read more lyrically, as well as tips to help an editor or agent see the visual potential in your poetry.
Access Program
We want our writing classes and seminars to be accessible to everyone, regardless of income and background. We understand that our tuition structure can present obstacles for some people. Our Access Program offers writing class and seminar tuitions at a reduced rate. Most Delves have at least one access spot available.
Please apply here for access rate tuition. Contact Susan Moore at susan@literary-arts.org if you have questions.
Liaison position
Every in-person class and seminar at Literary Arts has one liaison position. Liaisons perform specific duties for each class meeting. If you are a liaison for a class or seminar, the full amount of your tuition is covered by Literary Arts.
Apply here for the liaison position.

Nora Ericson
Nora Ericson is an award-winning author of books for kids. She grew up in central New York and received a BA in art from Yale University and an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts before settling in the west. She now makes her home in Portland, Oregon, where she enjoys watching her son play baseball, shopping for funky vintage sweaters with her daughter, and sampling as many street-tree plums as she can find around Mount Tabor. Her most recent release, Too Early, illustrated by Canadian paper artist Elly MacKay, received four starred reviews, was an ALA Notable Book, a Bank Street College Best Book of the Year, and the 2023 Margaret Wise Brown Prize Honor Book, an award given specifically for a picture book text. Too Early also won the 2024 Oregon Book Award for children's literature (Eloise Jarvis McGraw Award). Her next book, The Bunny Ballet, will be released in the fall of 2025.