Poetry/Writing/Education
Mary Thompson-Lujan
Mary Langer Thompson, the 2012 Senior Poet Laureate of California, also writes short stories and essays and is completing a memoir of her first year as a public-school principal. She is a contributor to two poetry writing texts, The Working Poet (Autumn Press, 2009) and Women and Poetry: Writing, Revising, Publishing and Teaching (McFarland, 2012). Her children’s books, How the Blue-Tongued Skink got his Blue Tongue and The Gull Who Thought He Was Dull were published by Another Think Coming Press. A retired school principal and former secondary English teacher, Langer Thompson continues to enjoy conducting writing workshops in her community where she won the 2019 Jack London Award from the California Writers Club High Desert Branch.
Mary is on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mary.langerthompson
Mary is willing to do Zoom meetings
Contact: [email protected]
Presentations
01
Writing
Writing Poetry
Workshops available for Found Poems; Ekphrastic Poems (poems based on another work of art); Poems of Place or Legacy Poems (Memoir). Participants will come away with a poem or poem draft. Available for school classrooms, grades 3-college. One hour or class period.
02
Writing
Writing The Story of Your Life
Where do you start? You will begin to write the story of your life by looking at Turning Points. One hour.
03
Create
How to Write a Flash Fiction Story of 1000 Words or Less
The group will write a collaborative FF story based on Kurt Vonnegut’s advice of determining first what your character needs. 1-2 hours.
04
Writing
How to Write a Children’s Book and Find an Illustrator
Mary is the author of two children’s books with one forthcoming and will help you plan and make the decisions needed to help you write your own. One hour.
01
Inspirational/Life Lessons
Healing Through the Arts
Mary has a University of Florida Certificate to help you deal with grief through various art forms, including writing, drawing, painting and creating. A bibliography will be provided on her recommendations for the ten best books on grief. One hour.
Publications
How the Blue-tongued skink got its blue tongue
Our process applies techniques from a variety of disciplines distinction in detail and gives careful attention.
The gull who thought he was dull
I loved your book! It was so good I want to read it 1,000 times. I liked it because the gull Gus was determined to be fancy not dull. But in the end he knew he did not need to be fancy. he needed his family to support him.” 3rd Grade Student
Poems in Water
“Poems in Water is a tender and empathetic collection written in accessible language about our shared human experiences.” John Sibley Williams, Poet and Writer
Operation Desert Haiku
Mary returned to writing haiku after many years
Grief Dialogues
Mary is included in this anthology with an essay on the grief experience.
The Language of My Lake
Poems about Mary’s experiences in Big Bear Lake, California