Jill wrote the poems
FAIRY MOUND, & SELKIE
Gnome & UnGnome Facts About Jill:
Jill is an Elementary Library Media Specialist and lives with her family in Connecticut.
She is a member of the Writers’ Loft and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
She is currently working on her own poetry anthology which combines her love of creative writing with crafting. Her latest creative adventures can be found on her website.
Jill’s poetry was included in FRIENDS & ANEMONES (Writers’ Loft Press, 2020).
Absol’s Q&A with Jill:
Hello, Jill, delightful to meet you! Thanks for being our LEGEND of the WEEK!
Tell us what magical or legendary creature you’d be if you could?
I feel I should say Selkie since I did quite a bit of research into Selkie folklore, but I would much rather be something with wings, maybe a fairy or a dragon. Yes, I would like to be a flying mythological creature. It would be fun to swoop over mountains and check out the mythological world from above.
Hmmm… I do not get the appeal of flying, but my fairy friends sure love it.
Can you tell us a little about how you came to be a part of Gnomes & UnGnomes?
I am a poet in Friends & Anemones Ocean Poems for Children. I so enjoyed being part of the community of writers and artists in that book. Most of all, I enjoyed sharing all the poems from that collection with kids. I am excited to do it again. Poems of hidden creatures are mysterious and sometimes creepy. It’s going to be so much fun to read the poems and dig into the myths, magical powers, and hidden creature secrets that go along with them.
We all agree that gnomes aren’t creepy though, right?
How did you come to write about Selkies and not gnomes?
My heritage is part Irish and I wanted to learn more about myths from that part of the world. When I came upon the shape-shifting selkies, I was intrigued. I was fascinated by their seal magic, especially their shape-shifting fur cloaks and the stories of their relationships, good and bad, with humans.
Also, I like to experiment with poetry forms. I came upon the triolet in a writing webinar and thought I would give the very structured poetry form a try. I decided to write two triolets to tell the Selkie’s story, one when she is caught and one when she escapes. Yes, I do like happy endings!
Yeah, that’s a great story. Thanks for your time, Jill!
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