Charles Ghigna

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Charles Vincent Ghigna (born August 25, 1946 in Bayside, Queens, New York) is a poet, children's author, speaker and former teacher. He is the author of more than 5,000 poems and more than 100 books, most of which have been published under his trademarked pen name Father Goose.

Ghigna is the son of Charles Vincent and Patricia Pelletier Ghigna. The family moved to Fort Myers, Florida when he was five years old, and he began keeping journals and writing poems while attending school there. During his senior year he was an All-Star baseball player and tried out unsuccessfully for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He began his teaching career at Cypress Lake Senior High School in Fort Myers in 1967 while completing his bachelor of arts in English and Master of Education at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. He married Nancy Minnicks in 1967 and had a daughter, Julie Ann, before they divorced in 1973.

Ghigna served as poetry editor of The English Journal for the National Council of Teachers of English from 1973 to 1974. He then moved to Birmingham to begin a two-decade tenure as "poet-in-residence" at the Alabama School of Fine Arts and has also taught creative writing at Samford University. His first nationally-published poem "Alabama Wire Grassers", appeared in Harper's magazine that September. He married writer Debra Holmes in 1975 and had a son, Chip.

His poems for adults have appeared in many popular magazines including The New Yorker, Harper's, Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Good Housekeeping, Ladies' Home Journal, McCall's, Writer's Digest, The Saturday Evening Post, Guideposts, as well as in many other magazines, literary journals, anthologies and textbooks. The book "Returning to Earth" was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1990.

From 1993 to 1998 Ghigna authored Snickers, a syndicated daily newspaper feature, for Tribune Media Services. A book of The Best of Snickers was published in 1994.

His poems for children appear in Cricket, Ladybug, Highlights for Children, Ranger Rick, Children's Digest, Children's Playmate, Humpty Dumpty, Jack and Jill, Child Life, Guideposts for Kids, Lollipops, Hopscotch, Pockets, Pre-K Today, Storyworks, Turtle, and in many anthologies including The 20th Century Children’s Poetry *Treasury (Knopf), Knock at a Star: A Child’s Introduction to Poetry (Little, Brown), and Read A Rhyme Write a Rhyme (Knopf), as well as in the national SAT and ACT tests, and hundreds of anthologies, textbooks, newspapers, journals and magazines.

Ghigna has presented poetry readings and programs at the Library of Congress, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the American Library in Paris, the International Schools of South America and at hundreds of other schools, colleges, conferences, libraries, book fairs, and literary events throughout the U.S. and overseas. In March 2021 his 4-line "Goal Mind" verses began appearing in the Sunday editions of The Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times, and the Mobile Press-Register.

His poem Paul "Bear" Bryant appeared in the Birmingham Post-Herald, December 29, 1983, as a memorial to the legendary coach. A limited edition of signed and numbered prints of the poem with a photograph by Clifford Byrd of Bryant in his classic pose leaning against the goal post appear in the Paul W. Bryant Museum at the University of Alabama and in Birmingham at the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.

Ghigna's books have been featured on ABC-TV's "Good Morning America" and on NPR, selected by the Book-of-the-Month Club and awarded the Parents' Choice Book Award.

Publications

  • Ghigna, Charles (1973) Plastic Tears. Philadelphia: Dorrance & Company
  • Ghigna, Charles (1975) Stables: The Story of Christmas. Birmingham: Creekwood Press
  • Ghigna, Charles (1977) Cockroach. Contemporary Drama Service
  • Ghigna, Charles (1978) Divers and Other Poems. Birmingham: Creekwood Press
  • Ghigna, Charles (1979) Circus Poems. Birmingham: Creekwood Press
  • Ghigna, Charles (1989) Returning to Earth. Livingston: University of West Alabama Press
  • Ghigna, Charles (1989) Father Songs. Birmingham: Creekwood Press
  • Ghigna, Charles (1992) Wings of Fire. Birmingham: Druid Press
  • Ghigna, Charles (1994) The Best of Snickers. Birmingham: The Best of Times
  • Ghigna, Charles (1995) The Day I Spent the Night in the Shelby County Jail. Birmingham: The Best of Times
  • Ghigna, Charles (1999) Plastic Soup: Dream Poems. Montgomery: Black Belt Press
  • Ghigna, Charles (1999) Love Poems. Birmingham: Crane Hill Publishers
  • Ghigna, Charles (2001) Haiku: The Travelers of Eternity. Montgomery: River City Publishing
  • Ghigna, Charles (2006) Poems 1974-2005. Pudding House
  • Ghigna, Charles (2019) Stones: The Collected Short Poems of Charles Ghigna. Canopic Press
  • Ghigna, Charles (2019) Dear Poet: Notes to a Young Writer. Resource Books
  • Ghigna, Charles (2020) Illusions: Poetry & Art for the Young at Heart. Resource Books
  • Ghigna, Charles (2021) Artwords: Artists & Poets: Portraits in Verse. Resource Books
  • Ghigna, Charles (2021) The Truth About Trees. Negative Capability Press

Children's books

  • Ghigna, Charles (1992) Good Dogs/Bad Dogs. New York: Hyperion Books for Children
  • Ghigna, Charles (1992) Good Cats/Bad Cats. New York: Hyperion Books for Children
  • Ghigna, Charles (1994) Tickle Day: Poems from Father Goose. New York: Hyperion Books for Children
  • Ghigna, Charles (1994) Speaking in Tongues: New and Selected Poems, 1974-1994. Livingston: University of West Alabama Press.
  • Ghigna, Charles (1995) Riddle Rhymes. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.
  • Ghigna, Charles (1999) See the Yak Yak. New York: Random House
  • Ghigna, Charles (1999) Mice are Nice. New York: Random House.
  • Ghigna, Charles (1999) Animal Trunk: Silly Poems to Read Aloud. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
  • Ghigna, Charles and Debra Ghigna (2000) Christmas is Coming!. Watertown, Massachusetts: Charlesbridge Publishing
  • Ghigna, Charles (2002) The Alphabet Parade. Montgomery: River City Publishing
  • Ghigna, Charles (2002) One Hundred Shoes. Random House
  • Ghigna, Charles (2003) A Fury of Motion: Poems for Boys. Boyds Mills Press
  • Ghigna, Charles (2003) Halloween Night: Twenty-One Spooktacular Poems. Running Press
  • Ghigna, Charles (2004) Animal Tracks: Wild Poems to Read Aloud. Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
  • Ghigna, Charles (2005) If You Were My Valentine. Simon & Schuster
  • Ghigna, Charles (2005) Dylan the Smokey Dragon. Maris, West & Baker
  • Ghigna, Charles (2005) Oh My, Pumpkin Pie!. Random House
  • Ghigna, Charles (2008) SCORE! 50 Poems to Motivate and Inspire. Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
  • Ghigna, Charles (2008) Snow Wonder. Random House
  • Ghigna, Charles (2010) Barn Storm. Random House
  • Ghigna, Charles (2011) I See Winter. Capstone
  • Ghigna, Charles (2011) I See Spring. Capstone
  • Ghigna, Charles (2011) I See Summer. Capstone
  • Ghigna, Charles (2011) I See Fall. Capstone
  • Ghigna, Charles (2012) The Magic Behind the Screen. PBS/APT
  • Ghigna, Charles (2012) Little Seeds. Capstone
  • Ghigna, Charles (2012) We Need Water. Capstone
  • Ghigna, Charles (2012) Recycling Is Fun. Capstone
  • Ghigna, Charles (2012) Pick Up the Park. Capstone
  • Ghigna, Charles (2014) Wonders of the Color Wheel. Capstone
  • Ghigna, Charles (2014) Shapes Are Everywhere. Capstone
  • Ghigna, Charles (2014) The Alphabet Parade. Capstone
  • Ghigna, Charles (2014) Numbers in the Park. Capstone
  • Ghigna, Charles (2015) Sunshine Brightens Springtime. Capstone
  • Ghigna, Charles (2015) Hail to Spring. Capstone
  • Ghigna, Charles (2015) A Windy Day in Spring. Capstone
  • Ghigna, Charles (2015) Raindrops Fall All Around. Capstone
  • Ghigna, Chalres (2015) Lucy Goose: Tiny Tales. Capstone
  • Ghigna, Charles (2015) Adeline Porcupine: Tiny Tales. Capstone
  • Ghigna, Charles (2015) Bobby Bear: Tiny Tales. Capstone
  • Ghigna, Charles (2015) Cuddle Bunny: Tiny Tales. Capstone
  • Ghigna, Charles (2015) A Carnival of Cats. Orca
  • Ghigna, Charles (2016) A Parade of Puppies. Orca
  • Ghigna, Charles (2016) Strange, Unusual, Gross & Animals. Time Inc.
  • Ghigna, Charles (2017) Father Goose Animal Rhymes: Farm Animals. Cantata Learning
  • Ghigna, Charles (2017) Father Goose Animal Rhymes: Zoo Animals. Cantata Learning
  • Ghigna, Charles (2017) Father Goose Animal Rhymes: Pets. Cantata Learning
  • Ghigna, Charles (2017) Father Goose Animal Rhymes: Sea Life. Cantata Learning
  • Ghigna, Charles (2017) Father Goose Animal Rhymes: Bugs & Insects. Cantata Learning
  • Ghigna, Charles (2017) Father Goose Animal Rhymes: Wild Life. Cantata Learning
  • Ghigna, Charles (2017) Father Goose: Winter Math: Addition. Cantata Learning
  • Ghigna, Charles (2017) Father Goose: Winter Math: Subtraction. Cantata Learning
  • Ghigna, Charles (2017) Father Goose: Winter Math: Making 10. Cantata Learning
  • Ghigna, Charles (2017) Father Goose: Winter Math: Count by 10 to 100. Cantata Learning
  • Ghigna, Charles (2017) Father Goose: Winter Math: Even Numbers. Cantata Learning
  • Ghigna, Charles (2017) Father Goose: Winter Math: Odd Numbers. Cantata Learning
  • Ghigna, Charles (2017) Father Goose: Fire Safety: Prepare. Cantata Learning
  • Ghigna, Charles (2017) Father Goose: Fire Safety: Who Do You Call. Cantata Learning
  • Ghigna, Charles (2017) Father Goose: Fire Safety: What Do You Do: Part I. Cantata Learning
  • Ghigna, Charles (2017) Father Goose: Fire Safety: What Do You Do: Part II. Cantata Learning
  • Ghigna, Charles (2017) First Times. Orca
  • Ghigna, Charles (2018) Who Can. Orca
  • Ghigna, Charles (2018) The Night the Forest Came to Town. Orca
  • Ghigna, Charles (2019) Alabama: My Home Sweet Home. Whitman
  • Ghigna, Charles (2020) Once Upon Another Time. Beaming Books
  • Ghigna, Charles (2021) A Poem is a Firefly. Schiffer Books
  • Ghigna, Charles (2021) Love is Everything. Schiffer Books
  • Ghigna, Charles (2022) Fetch, Cat, Fetch! Schiffer Books
  • Ghigna, Charles (2022) Little Hearts. Red Comet Press
  • Ghigna, Charles (2023) The Father Goose Treasury. Schiffer Books
  • Ghigna, Charles (2023) The Magic Box. Schiffer Books
  • Ghigna, Charles (2023) Bound to Dream. Schiffer Books

References

  • Zuniga, T. L. (July 1985) "Students challenge ex-jock poet." Magic City News. Vol. 2, No. 10, p. 6
  • Charles Ghigna (Father Goose): An explication and bio-bibliographical guide. (2005) The Contemporary Authors Series. Vol. 137. Thomson-Gale
  • LeGrand, Lissa (July 19, 2007) "The Poetry of Charles Ghigna". Interview for WBHM-FM's "Tapestry"
  • Laubenthal, Penne J. (2007) "Interview with Charles Ghigna" Swampland.com
  • White, Cynthia Quinn (May 14, 2014) "Charles Ghigna". Encyclopedia of Alabama - accessed September 27, 2019

External links