Jane Yolen at the Edinburgh International Book Festival!

Our guest room has been renamed. It is now "Jane's Room"! She was our very first guest here in Edinburgh, and we were thrilled to host her once more when she came in town for speaking engagements at the 2017 Edinburgh International Book Festival. Jane had two engagements to read her poems from a magazine and an anthology, both hosted by Claire Askew and Russell Jones and Edinburgh, City of Poetry.
     The first event was for the magazine Shoreline of Infinity in the Spiegeltent.My friend from Uni, Sara Julia Campbell illustrated the recent cover of Shoreline of Infinity. She was part of the evening's entertainment, drawing in the corner. I joined her while Jane did her reading onstage.The show opened with a wild musical act followed by Jane and several others reading their pieces from the magazine. It was a packed house!The next day, we had brunch with local poet, Marjorie Gill, then went to their next engagement to read poems from the anthology, Umbrellas of Edinburgh. This one was held in the Bosco Theatre on George Street. Jane read alongside Marjorie, Finola Scott, and Harry Giles. Their styles were all so incredibly different, it was lovely to listen.They all headed to the signing tent afterwards, which was also jam-packed with folks wanting signatures - including a teacher from Richmond, Virginia! What a small world. But best of all, I got to spend time with Jane. I showed her my drawings and experimental paintings (so far) for our picture book, Crow Not Crow. What a delight to see her reaction in person - she loves them! I'll have to give you another sneak peek soon. We went to the University of Edinburgh MA Illustration Show, where she generously mentored my fellow classmates. (They loved having her there!) And we talked and talked about the biz (we know all the same people) and stories and life. I'm very lucky to have Jane in my life and to call her my friend.