| Author pens childhood in form of poetry |
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| Wednesday, 19 September 2007 | ||
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Staff writer Penny J. Johnson decided 11 years ago to exchange a career in publishing for a career as a full-time mother.
Throughout the years she often wondered about publishing her poems, but never fully had the confidence or the time to make it happen, until recently. Just last month Johnson had her first published book hit the bookshelves. “It’s exciting, and I hope people enjoy the book. I hope this book is the beginning of more books to come,” Johnson said. The book, “The Last Time We Were Children,” is a compilation of 42 poems that Johnson has written over the years. “There are moments when this all seems surreal and then there are times when it seems tangible through comments and well wishes from people, and that is when it sets in,” she said about having her first book of poetry published. Johnson is holding a book signing event Oct. 6 from 4 to 5 p.m. at Walden Book Store at Northtown Mall.  “I’m excited about it and looking forwarding to having people come visit me,” she said.Since the age of 10, Johnson has dreamed of being a published writer. When she was 14, she starting composing poems. “I would say I have written 500 poems, but it could be closer to 1,000,” she said. Two years ago she decided to put her poetry to the test and enrolled in the Split Rock Art Program, a mentorship program through the University of Minnesota. “I felt I was out of the loop and this mentorship program was a way to get back into writing,” Johnson said. She worked with local poet Jim Moore (who has several published works) and began fine tuning her writings. The program was perfect for Johnson, because she could enroll in the program but work from home. “It was a nice program for me because being at home it was a wonderful way for me to participate in the program,” she said. The downside to working at home was that she never met Moore in person because they exclusively corresponded via e-mail. However, that didn’t seem to bother her because she received valuable information from him and in the end she had a book published. “You can fall in love with your own writing, but it’s nice to have feedback from someone else,” she said. Johnson’s book of poetry is more of a memoir and is divided into four categories. She said that the first section deals with her early memories. “My favorite poem in that section is ‘Chicken A La King,’ it’s about me making chicken a la king and my oldest son didn’t like it,” Johnson said with a chuckle as she reminiscenced about the day she made the meal. “It’s provoked a memory and is just one of those weird memories,” she said. Section two includes some of Johnson’s longer poems, and she said that this section includes poems that have significant memories for her. In the third section Johnson chose poems that are insightful to her personality, faith. “They are musings, poems, pondersings of life and who I am and where I fit in the world,” she said. The fourth section, is what she calls the “coming of age poems.” “I’m looking at the whole family dynamic, the way you preserve your family and the changes we go through,” she said. She says she draws her ideas from memories and experiences. There is no single style of poetry; she dips into the many different styles. “To me, fiction is like trying to walk in someone else’s shoes but knowing they will never fit you just right. And, nonfiction to me is like a very well tailored trouser, never too short or never too long,” Johnson said. “For me poetry has been my way of releasing expressions,” Johnson said. She wants people to read her book and get interested in reading poetry, not just hers but other poets. “Poetry is something people are afraid to read because they think they won’t understand it or think it’s boring. People shouldn’t be afraid of poetry, you should just read it as it is,” she said. Johnson doesn’t have a ritual she follows nor does she have a favorite spot she tucks herself away to write. She simply writes when she can; most often it’s in between cooking dinner, getting children dressed or when ever she can steal a few minutes to pen down her thoughts.” “I often write amongst chaos,” she said. Johnson grew up Anoka until her family moved to Missouri when she was 12. A few years later the family moved back to Minnesota, and this time her family lived in Vadnis Heights. Over the last seven years, Johnson and her family (husband David, and sons Nate, Jarrod and Marcus) have lived in Andover. Jennifer Kivioja is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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