Apple Learning Interchange - Ask Donald Hall!

In celebration of April 2007's National Poetry Month, U.S. Poet Laureate Donald Hall accepted text and video writing questions from teens and educators nationwide through The Student Publishing Program. (Thanks so much for all your questions!)

The 10 questions chosen as most helpful to student writers are below. We'll be publishing the Poet Laureate's video responses through June - right here at Apple Learning Interchange!

CLICK THE VIDEO PLAYERS FOR WRITING AND TEACHING ADVICE FROM DONALD HALL, U.S. POET LAUREATE!

Duration: 1:52

1) "Mr. Hall, how do you know when a poem is any good or when it's ready to show to other people?"
--KRYSTAL I., high school student

Duration: 1:28

2) "Mr. Hall, you were writing poems and short stories well before you were in High School, but when did you first consider yourself a 'writer'? And is it an important step to becoming one?"
-- PAUL T., high school student

Duration: 2:26

3) "I have many poets in my class. They would like to know your advice on how to get their work published and whether or not you think it's beneficial to try to publish?"
-- ANILA A., middle school teacher

Duration: 2:06

4) "Mr. Hall, do you have a special room or area where you do your writing? And if so, do you have any advice for how I could set up my own?"
-- ABBEY R., high school student

Duration: 1:42

5) "My question for you, Mr. Hall, is whether you think writing poetry is a good exercise for helping students with all kinds of writing. And if so, why?"
-- ABBY D., librarian

Duration: 1:48

6) "I'd like to know, Mr. Hall, what first got you interested in writing poetry?"
-- ARTEM P., high school student

Duration: 1:55

7) "How do student or adult writers know when it is ok to break the rules? A la Beckett."
-- IAN A., high school teacher

Duration: 1:47

8) "I am a Reference & Young Adult Librarian at a public library in southeast Florida. I work with kids who are vulnerable to getting lost on the street and would like to get them to channel their energy into some sort of ongoing writing project. Can you share any ideas on how I can get these kids excited about poetry, writing and reading?"
-- LISA K., librarian

COMING SOON...

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9) "Mr. Hall, I've known your poetry ever since I was in about 6th grade. I saw you. You came to my school in Ann Arbor, Michigan and you read your poetry there, and I've always remembered you and your wonderful poem about the bear and the hills and what those hills looked like. I know that poets often imagine a reader when they're writing their poems, so I'd just like to ask you, what kind of readers do you imagine in your poems?"
-- CONSTANCE V., high school librarian

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10) "Mr. Hall, I was just wondering if you could make a love poem meaningful without just saying nice things?"
-- JACK L., high school student

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