Mistakes Made, Humanity Portrayed: Curating a Poetry Anthology
Guest post by Lerner Publishing Group, 2024 Platinum Sponsor
By Charles Waters and Irene Latham
As new poetry anthologists, we had a few goals in mind when curating The Mistakes That Made Us: Confessions from Twenty Poets.
- give kids a book with the best poetry possible.
- make sure those poems provide a diverse and inclusive experience.
We wanted poems about all kinds of mistakes—so we created book sections Oopsie-Daisy!, about embarrassing public mistakes, Stuff Happens, about mistakes that hurt oneself, Blessings In Disguise, about mistakes with silver linings, and What Have I Done?, about mistakes that hurt other people. And we wanted those poems to come from poets with different backgrounds, cultures, mindsets. When everything came together, we ended up with 5 poems per section for a total of 20 poems from 20 poets.
As lovers of poetry anthologies and frequent contributors, one of the things we adore about anthologies is how each book is a smorgasbord with something for every reader. The variety of poetic voices means you can put an anthology in the hands of any child, and it’s highly likely they will find a poem that speaks to them.
This collection includes heartrending poems like “Silent” by Kim Rogers from the Stuff Happens section, shocking poems like “Science Lesson” by David Elliott from the Oopsie-Daisy! section, and hysterical poems like “The Glue That Binds Us” by Darren Sardelli from the What Have I Done? section. All are relatable and special in some way, whether that’s in the topic or style or language. And because each poem includes a nonfiction textbox in which the poet explains in a few sentences how the mistake impacted their lives, readers get a big-picture view: everyone makes mistakes; it’s just part of life.
We learned a lot through the process of curating this collection. First and foremost: we are surrounded by some brave and fascinating poets who are willing to share their deeply personal experiences with us, and you, the reader. We’ll always be grateful and humbled by their courage in being vulnerable.
This anthology has strengthened our resolve in one of our goals as authors and anthologists in highlighting different experiences from people from all over the world and showing how there’s a commonality in all of us as humans. While details and circumstances may differ, ultimately we all share the same sense of embarrassment, regret, as well as the desire to become better humans in this extraordinary and complicated world in which we reside.
Irene Latham and Charles Waters are poetic forever friends first and collaborators second. They have been creating books together since 2015. Their together-titles include Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes and Friendship, which was named an NCTE Charlotte Huck Honor book; Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes and Anecdotes from A to Z; African Town, winner of the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction; and Be a Bridge. They have also curated three poetry anthologies: The Mistakes That Made Us: Confessions from 20 Poets (Carolrhoda/Lerner, 2024), If I Could Choose a Best Day: Poems of Possibility (Candlewick, 2025), and For The Win: Poems About Pivotal Moments in the Lives of Phenomenal Athletes.
(Carolrhoda/Lerner, 2026). www.irenelatham.com www.charleswaterspoetry.com
