Ellen S. Jaffe

Ellen S. Jaffe grew up in New York City, lived in England for several years, and moved to Canada since 1979. She now lives in Hamilton. She began writing early in her life, and has been published in journals and anthologies in the U.S., U.K., and Canada, as well as writing and publishing two books, listed below. She has given many readings, in Ontario and elsewhere in Canada. Ellen also teaches writing to children and adults. She began by volunteering in a group in New York, "The Voice of the Children," mentored by June Jordan. In Canada, she has received several grants from the Ontario Arts' Council's "Artist in Education" program, and since 2000 has worked with "Learning Through the Arts" (TM), a program based at the Royal Conservatory of Music. She has also worked with women's groups.

In 2002, Ellen co-organized Hamilton's "Celebration of Jewish Writers and Writing," an event which brought together writers from Hamilton, Toronto, and P.E.I. and drew a large audience. She has also been active in the theatre: she adapted Margaret Laurence's children's novel, "Jason's Quest," into a play, produced in 2001, and co-produced the play, The Golden Age of Monsters, or, My Father Gave Me Hannah Arendt's "Eichmann in Jerusalem" for My Twentieth Birthday, by J.J. Steinfeld, for the Hamilton and Toronto Fringe Theatre Festivals in 2003. She works part-time as a family counsellor, but sees writing as the focus of her work. (author photo: Jason Ransom)

Awards
Short Plays for Schools Competition, CAA/BIAI, 1996, Tie for fourth place.
Finalist, CBC Literary Competition, 1996.
Honourable Mention, "Arc" Poem of the Year Contest, 1997.
Orion Poetry Prize: first place and second honourable mention, 2000.
Cambridge Writers Collective, 3rd prize for short story, 2001; 1st prize for poetry, 2002; 2nd prize for short story, 2002.
Hamilton & Region Arts Council: Best Non-fiction Book, 2001;
Best Poetry Book (Different Drummer Books Award for Poetry Book), 2002.

Selected Publications
Water Children (Mini Mocho Press: Hamilton, ON, Canada, 2002) ISBN 0-921980-21-3.
Writing Your Way: Creating a Personal Journal (Sumach Press: Toronto, ON, Canada, 2001) ISBN1-894549-04-X.

Selected Anthologies
Waging Peace, ed. Susan McMaster (Penumbra Press: Ottawa, ON, Canada, 2002) ISBN1-894131-37-1
Now See Here! An Anthology of Southern Ontario Poets and Illustrators, ed. James Strecker (Mini Mocho Press: Hamilton, ON, Canada, 2000) ISBN 0-921980-16-7.
Intricate Countries: Women Poets from Earth to Sky. Ed. Gertrude Lebans with Lesley Chin Douglass and Ellen Jaffe (Artemis Enterprises: Dundas, ON, Canada, 1996) ISBN1-895247-20-9.

Books in Print
Jaffe, Ellen S.
Water Children, Poetry (Mini Mocho Press: Hamilton, ON, Canada, 2002) ISBN 0-921980-21-3, $15.00.
Writing Your Way: Creating a Personal Journal, Non-Fiction (Sumach Press: Toronto, ON, Canada, 2001) ISBN1-894549-04-X, $16.95.

Ellen S. Jaffe, Hamilton, ON, Canada,  905-308-7683
ejaffe@sympatico.ca
www.library.utoronto.ca/canpoetry/jaffe/index.htm
www.sumachpress.com/
www.writersunion.ca/j/jaffe.htm

 

Poet in the School
(Hamilton - will travel)

phone/fax: 905-308-7683.   
ejaffe@sympatico.ca

Ellen S. Jaffe grew up in New York City and has lived in Ontario, Canada since 1979; she now makes her home in Hamilton.  She began writing as a child, and her first poems, including poems protesting the war in Viet Nam, were published in the 1960's. At that time, she also began working with an inner-city children's writing group in Brooklyn, which named itself "The Voice of The Children." Ellen then lived in England for several years, studying education and play therapy. She has published two books, Writing Your Way: Creating a Personal Journal, and Water Children, a collection of poetry. Both these books have received awards from the Hamilton & Region Arts Council (in 2002 and 2003 respectively). She has also been published in Canadian poetry journals and anthologies including CV2, Kairos, Kaleidoscope, Capilano Review, and anthologies published by Black Moss Press, Mini Mocho Press, the Cambridge Writers Collective, and Artemis Enterprises.  Some of her poems have been read on CBC-Radio. She has also adapted Margaret Laurence's novel for young people, Jason's Quest, into a play, first produced in 2001 by Adventures in Children's Theatre. 

Ellen has worked in schools throughout south-west Ontario; she has received grants from the Ontario Arts Council's "Artist in Education Program," and is now in her 4th year of working with "Learning Through the Arts" (tm), a program based at the Royal Conservatory of Music, in which artists work in the schools, developing projects in all areas of the curriculum. She has also taught writing to adult groups. In 2002, she and her colleague Lil Blume coordinated Hamilton's first Festival of Jewish Writers and Writing.  She also co-produced a play by J.J. Steinfeld, for the Hamilton and Toronto Fringe Theatre Festivals, in 2003.

Ellen has one son, Joe, a student at McMaster University. She enjoys camping and canoeing, travel and theatre, and good cooking (her own and her friends'). She is a member of The League of Canadian Poets, the Canadian Poetry Association, and The Writers Union of Canada.  She enjoys meeting and working with students of all ages.
Grade Levels: all

Fees: standard

Classroom Approach:
I might start by reading a few poems, about my grandmother, for example, and show photographs of her. Depending on the age of the students, we could then do a group poem about grandparents and other family members (which I would write on the board), or the students would write individual poems which we would then share.  We could talk about elements that help make a good poem: imagery, rhythm, repetition, surprise, etc.  Writing group poems helps create an atmosphere of brain-storming, taking risks, and sharing ideas. 

Another poem that helps students write is one that I have written in the voice of a cat; we could then write poems from the point of view of various animals, other things in nature, or even everyday objects like trash cans and teddy bears. This kind of writing is good for students in grades 4-6, because they can express feelings through the point of view of something else, not themselves.

For older students, we could take images from science (eg. "black holes"), or choose a theme to write about.
We could also look at rhyme in new ways (beginning and internal rhyme)and combine poetry with artwork, or with sounds (eg. drumbeats, taped music). Another subject that has worked well are combining colours and the senses (eg. red is the sight of..., the sound of..., the smell of..., the taste of..., the touch of..., the feeling of..., the movement of...). 

We could also look at their "favourite" words and create a poem from them. I would read a few more poems of my own, and also share some poems written by children in other times and cultures -- eg. the poems in "I Never Saw Another Butterfly," by children in Terezein concentration camp in Czechoslovakia, to show how poetry can flourish and can help us survive even in the most difficult situations. And I would answer students' questions about the writing process.

Students' comments:

"I knew I wanted to talk about my two grandfathers, but I didn't know I could write a poem about them." (boy, grade 5)

"You're the lady who taught me poetry -- I'll never forget that." (girl, grade 6, at a chance meeting 2 years later).