COLLABORATION INVESTIGATION: ONCE UPON ANOTHER TIME

ONCE UPON ANOTHER TIME, written by Charles Ghigna and Matt Forrest Esenwine, and illustrated by Andrés F. Landazábal, garnered high praise from award-winning poet Nikki Grimes: "Ghigna and Esenwine provide a vehicle to ferry young readers back to a time when the wonders of nature called to them more powerfully than any computer screen ever could. Once Upon Another Time's glorious poetry and paintings are a perfect pairing." 

I agree that the poetry and paintings are wonderful! I was also intrigued by another aspect of the book -- it's a collaboration between two un-related authors. I wondered how the collaboration came about and what made it work so brilliantly, so I went directly to the authorial sources!

Charles Ghigna, also known as "Father Goose"

Matt Forrest Esenwine

When and how did you meet each other?

Matt: We've known each other at least since 2012, I believe, when we "met" through Facebook. It might've been earlier than that, though. I had just left full-time employment that year to be a stay-at-home dad and focus on my writing and voiceover work, and I was trying to connect with and learn from all the great authors and poets out there!
Charles happened to be one of them, and not only did I really enjoy his style of writing, but he also had told me that he was my biggest fan! As a newbie, that meant a great deal to me -- and our first "collaboration" was an interview I did with him on my blog in 2013, the same month we began our collaboration on Once Upon Another Time.

Who came up with the idea for Once Upon Another Time? Did you pitch the idea to publisher Beaming Books before writing it, or did you write first and sell later? Was the creation organic or structured?

​Charles: I came up with the title and idea and posted the first few pages on a blog, inviting others to join in. I also sent it to a few other poets whose work I admire. Matt was one of the first to reply, and his sample lines were in keeping with what I had in mind. The most amazing part was that his writing style for this project blended beautifully with mine.

Matt: [Charles] said he...needed to hold off and focus on a couple of projects before moving forward. As it turned out, he never did move forward, ha! Because two years later I emailed him to see if anything had happened with the manuscript, and he said he'd been so busy that the manuscript had sat "untouched", in his words, the entire time! He told me that if I wanted to tackle it, it might be fun to collaborate -- and that's the point where I worked to complete the rough draft. We then began polishing, and fifteen or so revisions later, we had a final draft!

I noticed that the text contains four-line stanzas (in an ABCB rhyme scheme), as well as rhymed couplets. Does that reflect which parts of the book were written by each poet, or was the entire text written together? 

Matt: That was how Charles' first few stanzas had been written, so when I began the rough draft I simply kept the structure he already put in place. It was my hope, (indeed OUR hope), that no one would be able to tell which lines were his and which were mine -- or which were the editor's! (Yes, Naomi Krueger at Beaming Books did contribute two lines!)

Charles: We both contributed four-line stanzas as well as couplets. I made minor suggestions to Matt's lines and he did the same to mine. The major revisions we made were mostly to our own work, both of us staying true to the overall concept and direction of the book that is hinted at in the title.

The opening quatrain of the book.

The second stanza of the book, written as a rhymed couplet. Notice the R alliteration.

How did the editorial process go with a collaborative book?

Matt: It went very smoothly. [Editor] Naomi Krueger loved what we'd written, but wanted to expand it from a standard 32-page book to 40 pages, which we really appreciated. She really helped us navigate the "in the present -- back to the past -- back to the present" timeline, which can be difficult for a young reader to comprehend. As far as collaborative projects go, we couldn't have done it without her!

Left page of a "present day" spread. First line of a rhymed couplet. Beautiful example of long O and long A assonance.

Right page of the "present day" spread. Second line of the rhymed couplet. More long A assonance.

Charles, you often work with your artist son. Have you collaborated with other authors, too? Matt, have you collaborated with someone on another book? 

Charles: I've only collaborated with a few other poets -- Jane Yolen, David Harrison, and Debra Ghigna -- and have also worked closely with artists and illustrators, including Sara Brezzi, Anna Fortali, Jacquiline East, Bob Staake, Ag Jatkowska, Julia Gorton, Brian Lies, Michelle Hazelwood Hyde, Debbie Palen, and Chip Ghigna.

Matt: Yes! Several years ago a friend of mine, author Deb Bruss (Book, Book, Book! and Good Morning Snowplow) shared with me a few lines of a manuscript she was working on. I figured out the narrative and completed a rough draft which we then began revising, and polishing -- and it turned into Don't Ask a Dinosaur (POW! Kids Books, 2018). I've also collaborated with several poets on poetry anthologies and I am currently submitting an animal poetry collection, written with our mutual friend, David Harrison.

Any tips for writers who might be considering a book collaboration?

Matt: Jane Yolen has called collaboration "twice the work and half the pay." Although she's correct, she recognizes how rewarding collaboration can be; you get to bounce ideas off each other, build upon each other's words and concepts, and very often end up with a manuscript that is much stronger than it might have otherwise been.

Charles: I think it's important to pick a collaborator whose work you admire and whose work inspires you. A key ingredient in a good collaboration is the same ingredient in a good marriage -- trust. We trust each other to follow our own creative instincts, yet stay open to each other's ideas and suggestions along the way, with an eye on making the final product the best we can individually and as a team.

​Thank you, Charles and Matt, for enlightening look into the collaborative process!

Charles Ghigna's website:
www.charlesghigna.com

Charles Ghigna has written more than 5,000 poems and 150 books. In addition to writing poetry, he has taught English and Creative Writing. Check out his newest books! Little Hearts: Finding Hearts in Nature, illustrated by Jacquline East, and The Father Goose Treasury of Poetry, illustrated by Sara Brezzi (pub date: April 23, 2023. 

Matt Forrest Esenwine's first poem was published in 1984, while he was still in high school. He currently has a dozen books out or under contract. His newest books are A Beginner's Guide to Being Human, illustrated
​by André Ceolin,
and Everybody Counts!, illustrated by Emma Graham.

Matt Forrest Esenwine's website:
www.mattforrest.com
​

~ Rhyme Doctor Patricia Toht