
Submitted by Barbara Jean Hicks
In celebration of National Poem in Your Pocket Day on Thursday, April 24, lovers of poetry all across America will carry a favorite poem in their pocket to share with co-workers, classmates, friends and family throughout the day. In Bellingham, local poets, aspiring poets and poetry lovers of all ages are invited to gather at Barnes & Noble, 4099 Meridian Street, at 7:00 that evening to share their pocket poem’s journey and perform it in a public forum. The poems may be original work or the work of a favorite poet, and prizes will be awarded for Best Poem Performance and Best Original Poem in children’s, teen and adult categories. Local children’s book author and poetry lover Barbara Jean Hicks will host the event.
As someone who has been known to “burst into poetry” without warning, Hicks was pleased several years ago to discover a national celebration dedicated to just that. Poem in Your Pocket Day was the brainchild of the Academy of American Poets, she says, and has been celebrated in New York City every April since 2002 and nationwide since 2008. Describing herself as a “closet poet,” Hicks committed on her birthday in July 2013 to write a poem every day for a year. “They aren’t anything I’d show to anyone in their present state,” she says, “but at the end of a year I figure I’ll have enough raw material to complete a polished poem or two. In the meantime, the practice gives me great pleasure.”
Hicks is the Ferndale-based author of both adult fiction and children’s picture books, including two books in the Disney Frozen Series, A Sister More Like Me (Disney Press, 2013) and An Amazing Snowman (Disney Press, 2014). She has not, to date, published any of her poetry—although, she says, “Picture books have many similarities to poetry. They are a similarly compact expression of an idea or emotion and use the language of poetry.”
The event is open to the public. For more information, contact Cate McCarthy or Stefanie Winger at Barnes & Noble, (360) 647-7018 or crm2682@bn.com, or contact Hicks at 206-465-1168 or bhicksgvv@att.net.
About the Author: Acclaimed children’s book author, speaker and educator Barbara Jean Hicks recently moved from Port Hueneme, California back to Ferndale, Washington, where she grew up. Her picture books include the award winning Jitterbug Jam: A Monster Tale, The Secret Life of Walter Kitty and Monsters Don’t Eat Broccoli. She has taught at the preschool, middle school, high school and community college levels, worked as an online educator, and served in an elementary school as author-in-residence, program facilitator and parent educator. She is also the author of 13 romance novels and novellas and has written marketing copy and edited manuscripts for numerous trade publishers. Currently, in addition to writing, she makes presentations in elementary schools up and down the West Coast as a visiting author.