Andrea Perry Biography (1956-)

Andrea Perry told SATA: "From the very first time I ever heard 'One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish' or read Ogden Nash explaining an octopus in rhymed verse, I have loved the playfulness of poetry. How can being an author possibly be work when writing humorous verse is so much fun? I have to admit that I do not write every day as I hear the serious, disciplined writer must, but when that sound, or word, or name of a city, or silly idea jumps into the room with me and won't go away, that's when my writing begins. For that very reason, I always carry a little notepad with me wherever I go, since you never know when that light bulb may go off. However, I have learned through experience to also carry a pen, since poems jotted down in lipstick are very hard to read.

"I am often asked where the ideas for my poems come from, and just as often readers assume my zanier ideas must come from my children. The truth is that most of my poems come from my own childhood growing up with seven brothers and sisters in a house full of energy and creativity. The title poem from my book, 'The Sure-Footed Shoe Finder,' came from a combination of vivid memories of being late for school when I was unable to find one of my shoes and of the smell of my brother's very stinky feet! That's why every household needs a machine that tracks lost shoes through their smell! That's also why most of the time I am writing outside of the box. Why write a poem about snow falling when the snow could be bouncing? Why write about bathtub rings unless they are caused by little men on motorcycles who live in your drain? That would have to be my motto: what if? Let's take an idea for a poem and turn it upside down. You may be surprised at what you end up with! To my thinking, poems just want to have fun."