Reviewed by: Grace Howard
Alabama’s beloved Father Goose to release series of books this summer
Reading time: 3 minutes
Charles Ghigna, a local poet who resides in a treehouse in Homewood and goes by the moniker Father Goose, has announced the release of six books this summer.
Ghigna is the author of more than 5,000 poems and 100 books published under Random House, Disney and Scholastic. Most recently, he hosted a Poetry Festival for young creative writers to express their poetry talent.
Read on to learn more about one of Birmingham’s most treasured authors and his new releases this summer.
The Lost Book of Life: New & Selected Poems coming Spring 2026
Poetry is often said to heal the soul through imagery and metaphors that evoke deeper meanings and feelings.
Charles Ghigna has been doing just that for over 50 years. His love of rhyming grew in elementary school when one of his teachers began each class with a poem. He continued to pursue creative writing until graduating college, when he became a teacher.
“The inspiration for many of my new poems comes from a contemplative, personal look back over my writing life; the people, places and events that helped shaped my perception of the world over the years.”
Charles Ghigna
His latest work, The Lost Book of Life: New & Selected Poems details aspects of his childhood, featuring black and white photos of his early literary influences like James Baldwin, James Dickey and Robert Hayden.This special piece samples each phase of Charles’ life and his personal perception of the world over the years.
Along with The Lost Book of Life, Charles is set to release 5 other incredible books of poetry. Here is the full list:
- Southern Bred: A Memoir of Gothic Poems
- Kids Love Coins: An Introduction to Coin Collecting
- Sweet Dreams: Moon Poems for Bedtime
- Puns Not Guns: Humorous Light Verse
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s First Poems
We had the opportunity to talk to Charles about his astonishing career and putting smiles on children’s faces with his whimsical poetry.
” I hope readers will relate to these poems and be inspired by them, each in their own personal way, and that some of the poems will go deep enough to evoke feelings of their own contemplative life, uplifting poetic journeys filled with gratitude, grace, forgiveness, love, kindness, and hope.”
Charles Ghigna
The Lost Book of Life is scheduled to be released through The Univeristy of Alabama Press in the Spring of 2026.
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