Local author brings poetry reading back in style

Local author Lenore Richman Roland has just finished writing a book of poems for children, titled "Under Granna's Poetry Tree, Birthday Poems for her Grands." Her inspiration for this book has been her children and grandchildren. Since 2003, when her oldest grandchild was born, she has been writing original poems to celebrate each grandchild's birthday from the first to the present. In January 2022, she wrote a poem for her granddaughter, Francesca, to celebrate her 10th birthday.

As she always did with new writings, she told Heritage, she would read the poem aloud to her youngest son, Robert. "His keen imagination moved into high gear," she said.

"Why don't you collect these poems in a book, a legacy for your grands and their families, as well as an inspiration for other grandparents to create a legacy for their grandchildren," he suggested.

The result is this wonderful collection of poems for children.

Roland isn't just a writer of children's poetry. For the past three decades, as a freelance writer, she has penned award-winning short stories, children's stories, poems, essays, and articles about varied subjects: Mideast peace work in our community, healing circle for a friend with breast cancer, profile of an Israeli spy who saved Israel during the time of the Six-Day War. Her work has been published in literary anthologies and magazines, as well as in local newspapers and national ones, such as the Chicago Tribune and the Philadelphia Inquirer.

A theater lover, Roland has also written short comedic plays, four of which have been read by Orlando's professional actors at the Black Box Theatre. A full-length drama, which she has worked on for 10 years, has not yet found a stage.

Roland has worked as an assistant textbook editor, community college instructor, and technical writer/editor/manager of a writers' group.

"Under Granna's Poetry Tree, Birthday Poems for her Grands," is now available on Amazon as a paperback and also as an ebook.