Charles Waters Poetry
About - From Disney World To Being An Author
I was born in Philadelphia and raised in the suburbs of Philly in a town called Yeadon.
Fun fact: Will Smith grew up 15 minutes from me in one direction and Tina Fey grew up 15 minutes from me in another.
After graduating from Fairleigh Dickinson University, I joined several theater touring companies, including, Poetry Alive! where I first experienced the power of poetry.
For eight years afterward when I wasn't developing my poetic skills, I was acting at Walt Disney World performing in various shows, including, the role of Judge at The American Idol Experience at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
I'm the co-author (with Irene Latham) of various books including: CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR? Poems of Race, Mistakes and Friendship, DICTIONARY FOR A BETTER WORLD: Poems, Quotes and Anecdotes from A to Z, AFRICAN TOWN, BE A BRIDGE (Fall '2022) and curating our first anthology, IF THIS PUDDLE COULD TALK: Poems of Imagination (Spring '22).
My poems have appeared in many anthologies including:
- Amazing Places edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins.
- The National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry edited by J. Patrick Lewis.
- The Proper Way To Meet A Hedgehog edited by Paul B. Janeczko.
- The Poetry Friday Anthology Series edited by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong.
- One Minute Till Bedtime edited by Kenn Nesbitt.
Since 2007 I have been a proud member of the Society of Children's Books
Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).