Happy Birthday, Will Shakespeare!

  April 23rd is Shakespeare’s birthday and The Loft is celebrating The Bard’s 445th with this great list of books! Here you’ll find modern novel re-tellings of Shakespeare plays, stories inspired by the great scribe’s life (and the lives of his characters), Manga adaptations, as well as gripping non-fiction titles that explore his creative genius, biography, and thematic [...]

Early Dismissal Wednesday: The Naming of Cats

The Naming Of Cats by T. S. Eliot The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter, It isn’t just one of your holiday games; You may think at first I’m as mad as a hatter When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES. First of all, there’s the name that the family [...]

Submit Your Poems to Teen Ink!

April is National Poetry Month! Looking for a place to publish your poetry? Submit your poems to Teen Ink, a national teen magazine, book series, and website devoted entirely  to teenage writing and art.   Submit your work online,         or send it by email or regular mail. Check out the submission guidelines online, or [...]

Manga Shakespeare In The Loft

Feeling lost in Shakespeare’s verse? Don’t have a chance to see the plays performed on stage? The Loft now has a selection of Shakespeare’s plays in Manga form! Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet – the Bard’s immortal poetry and stories come alive in stunning illustrations and shrewd [...]

view with a grain of sand

April is National Poetry Month! Join the free verse project. Do certain images make you recall lines of a poem? Pull out your camera, capture that thought, then send your picture, poem and original source here.        The lake’s floor exists floorlessly, and its shore exists shorelessly. It’s water feels itself neither wet nor dry and its [...]

April is national poetry month

Celebrate Poetry! Read a poem a day, or find just the poem or poetry website you need here. Read poetry by Evanston teens*, and write one of your own!   Stop by the Loft and find a book of poetry on display. *The poetry featured here by Evanston teens was written during a program that was partially supported by a grant [...]

Evanston Teen Poetry*

  My Interesting Eyes My interesting eyes are like the moon and sun mixed together. Half of my eye is bright the other side of my eye is dark. In the morning they match my clothes and breakfast. At night they match with my pjs and dinner. Whenever the lights are off, my eyes are [...]

Evanston teen poets*

  Slam Dunk Basketball is my life I would make Spaulding my wife. Only playing one-on-one with the best to put my skills to the test. There’s no time for rest.  I just wanna ball but they wanna see me fall. I can prove to my fans once and for all that I can ball. [...]

Just Because

   More Poetry from Evanston Teens* Just because I am from another country, doesn’t mean I should be your servant doesn’t mean I don’t know your language doesn’t mean I can’t follow the rules. Just because I’m bigger doesn’t mean you can call me giagantor doesn’t mean I am like a tree trunk doesn’t mean I’m [...]

Just Because

   Evanston Teen Poets Express Themselves!*    The Truth Behind My High Voice Just because I have a high voice. Does not mean I’m not loud. Don’t let that fool you. Don’t listen to how I sound listen to what I say. Does not mean I don’t get mad, doesn’t mean I’m not heard of. I [...]