Boy, 4, Lands Book Deal

Nadim Shamma-Sourgen writes 'purely childlike' poems
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 22, 2020 6:20 PM CDT
Boy, 4, Lands Book Deal
Stock image.   (Getty Images)

Not many poets try picking their nose on national television. But then, Nadim Shamma-Sourgen doesn't have much media experience: He just landed his first book deal at the age of four, the Guardian reports. "The poems talk about such important feelings, like love and loneliness, and Nadim finds the perfect words," says Denise Johnstone-Burt, an executive at the boy's publisher, Walker Books. "They are simple, inspirational and have a wisdom all of their own." Nadim's teacher, poet Kate Clanchy, says he dictates the poems to her before she posts them on Twitter: "I wasn't tweeting the poems because they were so much like adult work—it was because they were so purely childlike," she explains. A sample, titled "Coming Home":

Take off our jackets.
Hang them up
Take our gloves off
Take our shoes off
Put them where they're supposed to go.
You take off your brave feeling
Because there's nothing
to be scared of in the house:
No dark caves no monsters
no witches no bees no howling sounds
You don't need your brave anymore
Wash your hands
Eat lunch
Go get cosy

As for the "nosey" interview, it's worth the click on Sky News. (More writer stories.)

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