Ralph Fletcher



Ralph Fletcher (born March 17, 1953) is a writer of children's picture books, young-adult fiction and poetry as well as an educational consultant who has also written books for both children and professional educators on the craft of writing.

Biography
Ralph Fletcher grew up in Marshfield, Massachusetts. He is the oldest of nine children. Each of his parents was one of eight children. He received his B.A. degree from Dartmouth College in 1975 and his M.F.A degree in writing from Columbia University in 1983. In college he participated in foreign study programs in Tonga in the South Pacific and Sierra Leone, South Africa. After receiving his masters degree, Ralph worked in New York City classrooms as part of the Teacher College writing project. Fletcher currently lives in Lee, New Hampshire. He is married to JoAnn Portalupi with whom he has collaborated on several professional educator books. Together they have four sons.

Awards
His young adult novel Uncle Daddy won a Christopher Medal in the Books for Young People, ages 10–12 category in 2002. Fig Pudding, a young adult chapter book by Fletcher, was recommended as one of the ten best books of 1995 by the American Library Association. Fletcher's poetry book I Am Wings was chosen by School Library Journal as one of their best books of 1994. he is 59

Writer’s Notebook
In 1996, Ralph Fletcher wrote the book "Breathing In, Breathing Out; Keeping A Writer's Notebook". Although this book is geared towards an adult audience, it contributes a better understanding for educators of how to keep a writer's notebook and instill the values within Writer's Workshop for children. Fletcher writes that "keeping a notebook may be the single best way to survive as a writer." This book provides examples of situations in which Fletcher personally used his writer’s notebook for himself to cope, jot down story starters, write poems, let out rage or frustrations, or simply a place to unleash all that was on his mind. The purpose of this book is to allow people to see the value of having a writer’s notebook and allowing it to be “a quiet place to catch your breath and begin writing.” Fletcher provides samples from his own writer's notebook throughout the book to provide a better example of what a writer's notebook truly is.

Poetry

 * The Magic Nest (1980)
 * Water Planet (1991)
 * I Am Wings (1994)
 * Ordinary Things (1997)
 * Buried Alive (book) (1998)
 * Room Enough for Love (1998) - Compilation of I Am Wings and Buried Alive
 * Relatively Speaking (1999)
 * Have You Been to the Beach Lately? (2001)
 * A Writing Kind of Day (2005)
 * Moving Day (book) (2007)

Children's picture books

 * Twilight Comes Twice - illustrated by Kate Kiesler (1997)
 * Grandpa Never Lies - illustrated by Harvey Stevenson (2000)
 * The Circus Surprise - illustrated by Vladimir Vagin (2001)
 * Hello, Harvest Moon - illustrated by Kate Kiesler (2003)
 * The Sandman - illustrated by Richard Co wdrey (2008)

Memoir

 * Marshfield Dreams: When I Was a Kid (2005)

Professional educator books

 * Walking Trees (1991)
 * What a Writer Needs (1993)
 * Breathing In, Breathing Out: Keeping a Writer's Notebook (1996)
 * Craft Lessons: Teaching Writing K-8 (with JoAnn Portalupi) (1998)
 * Nonfiction Craft Lessons (with JoAnn Portalupi) (2001)
 * Writing Workshop (with JoAnn Portalupi) (2001)
 * Teaching the Qualities of Writing with JoAnn Portalupi (2004)
 * Lessons for the Writer's Notebook with JoAnn Portalupi (2005)
 * Boy Writers: Reclaiming Their Voices (2006)
 * Pyrotechnics on the Page (2010)

Books on writing for children

 * A Writer's Notebook (1996)
 * Live Writing (1999)
 * How Writers Work (2000)
 * Poetry Matters (2002)
 * How to Write Your Life Story (2007)
 * Reflections: Author at Work (2007)
 * Guy-Write: What Every Guy Writer Needs to Know (2012)