Charles Ghigna (aka Father Goose) is an American children’s book author and poet who was born in 1946 in Bayside, Long Island, New York. He currently lives and writes in Homewood, Alabama. He has published more than 50 award-winning books and has had over 5,000 poems published in hundreds of textbooks, anthologies, and magazines. In this interview, Chales talks about his books, his love of poetry, reading and writing.
Voicu Mihnea Simandan: You have been a story writer and a poet for most of your life. How has your writing evolved over time?
Charles Ghigna: I began writing poems for adults in the 1970s that appeared in Harper’s, New Yorker, Rolling Stone and other magazines, literary journals and anthologies. When my son was born, I began writing poems for children. Those early poems from the 1980s began appearing in Cricket, Highlights, Ranger Rick, Humpty Dumpty, Jack and Jill and other publications. In 1992 I signed a four-book contract with the Walt Disney Company. Since then I have written children’s books for many different publishers including Random House, Abrams, Simon and Schuster, Scholastic, Hyperion, Boyds Mills, Capstone and other publishers. I also started writing light verse for The Saturday Evening Post in the 1980s that developed into a nationally syndicated daily feature of light verse for Tribune Media Services that appeared in newspapers until the late 1990s.
VMS: But why poetry?
CG: I fell in love with poetry while in grade school and began writing it on a regular basis in my journals in high school. Poetry has always been the perfect little package of words for me to say what I wanted to say in as few words as possible.
VMS: Where did the ideas for the Halloween Night. Twenty-one Spooktacular Poems (first published in 2003) come from?
CG: My son’s birthday is October 24. His favorite holiday is Halloween. I began writing Halloween poems for him and his friends. Some of those poems appear in HALLOWEEN NIGHT.
VMS: Illustrations are a very important factor in any children’s books. What was your working relationship with Adam McCauley, the illustrator of Halloween Nights?
CG: Adam is an amazingly talented and imaginative artist. I was thrilled my publisher chose him to illustrate the book and I look forward to working with him again. (Interesting note: The title of the book is HALLOWEEN NIGHT. Adam’s cool looking squiggly mark on the cover makes it look like “night” is plural.)
VMS: You have written for both adult and (very) young readers, but you are mostly remembered as ‘Father Goose’ – the hilarious children’s book poet. How important is it for you to reach out to both audiences?
CG: I write everyday, sometimes late into the night. It always surprises me what pops into my mind. I am always thrilled to share those poetic surprises with children and adults. I always try to let my ideas tell me what they want to be. Sometimes they want to take shape in the form of free verse poems for grownups and sometimes they result in rhymed verse for children.
VMS: Everyone seems to believe that children no longer read and, with the availability of affordable e-readers, many believe that, sooner or later, children will no longer want to hold books in their hands. Please comment.
CG: Time spent reading with a child is one of the most magical times of our lives. The connections we make during those special moments transcend any other activitity. It brings together the love between parent and child, teacher and student. It fosters the love of language and imagination that lifts our magic carpet and sets us soaring into a land of wonder and adventure. That kind of magic will continue to bring us together in whatever form, paper or electronic, it may take.
VMS: You are very active online and maintain an excellent website and blog. How important is it for writers these days to be “out there” on the Internet, interacting with their fans?
CG: My family, neighbors and friends urged me to begin posting my poems a few years ago. Little did I know that others would join in the fun with us.
VMS: You’ve recently been on quite a few school visits. What were some of the highlights of these visits?
CG: I’ve been doing dozens of school visits each year for many many years. I always return home more inspired than ever! The “highlights” of each visit is seeing the young faces light up as we share the love of poetry together.
VMS: Do you still read children’s books and young adult fiction?
CG: Yes, I do! I love reading picture books, books of poetry, and YA fiction! I always keep a handy stack of those books on my nightstand.
VMS: What book are you working on right now?
CG: I am working on several projects including a series of four picture books about the environment titled MY LITTLE PLANET, a picture book for PBS titled THE MAGIC BEHIND THE SCREEN, a picture book about cats tentatively titled A CARNIVAL OF CATS, four picture books of poems from the FATHER GOOSE series, a bio of FATHER GOOSE: THE WRITING LIFE OF A CHILDREN’S POET, a picture book of poems for two-voices titled JUMP FOR JOY, a bi-lingual picture book for expectant families titled HELLO, BABY!/HOLA NENA, and a picture book of verse about FAMOUS FUNNY FACES: HISTORICAL FIGURES IN RHYME.
VMS: What is your writing routine?
CG: When I am not on the road speaking at schools and conferences, I am usually right here at my desk in my tree house writing from dawn to dusk and sometimes late into the evening.
VMS: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
CG: Buy yourself a notebook and write in it every day. Write about something that happened that day or about your special thoughts. Write just a few sentences about anything you want to write about. Write as though you’re talking to your best friend. Do that for two weeks and then stop — if you can. If you can’t, you’re a writer! And no one no matter how hard they may try will ever be able to stop you from following your writing dreams. Enjoy those dreams. Follow them. Make new ones. Share them. Write of your passions, your loves, your fears, your joys. Find your writer’s voice by listening deep inside. It’s that little voice that says in a low, soft whisper, “Listen to this…”
VMS: Thank you for your time.
CG: Thank you! For more answers to these good questions (and others), please visit my FAQ page at The Father Goose FAQ.
Listen to Charles Chigna reading the poem “Alabama”:
Voicu Mihnea Simandan
Bangkok, Thailand
October 27, 2011
