The Father Goose House
The Father Goose House is a 95-year-old English Tudor cottage located in the old Edgewood section of Homewood, Alabama,
home to Debra and Charles Ghigna for the past 48 years. Affectionately known as "Father Goose," Charles has written more than
100 books and 5,000 poems in The Father Goose House. His writing room which he calls his "treehouse" is located in the attic.
Father Goose
Birmingham, Alabama
Vulcan Park
(photo by Scott Pierce)
Charles Ghigna - Father Goose® is the author of more than 100 books from Disney, Random House, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, Time Inc. and other publishers, and more than 5000 poems, many of which appear in textbooks, anthologies, newspapers, and magazines including The New Yorker, Harper’s, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, as well as in Highlights, Cricket and numerous other magazines for children. He served as poet-in-residence and chair of creative writing at the Alabama School of Fine Arts, instructor of creative writing at Samford University, poetry editor of English Journal for the National Council of Teachers of English, and as a nationally syndicated poetry feature writer for Tribune Media Services. He speaks at schools, conferences, libraries, and literary events throughout the U.S. and overseas, and has read his poems at The Library of Congress, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the American Library in Paris, the American School in Paris, and the International Schools of South America. For more information, visit his website at FatherGoose.com FatherGoose.com
with Chip and Daisy
Homewood, Alabama
October 2023
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
Southern Festival of Books
Nashville, Tennessee
October 2023
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with Debra Ghigna
at our son's Pop-Up Art Show
West Homewood Market
Homewood, Alabama
June 2023
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
Birmingham, Alabama
May 13, 2023
(photo by Debra Ghigna) Homewood, Alabama
April 27, 2023
(photo by Debra Ghigna) at the Alabama Booksmith
Homewood, Alabama
April 27, 2023
(photo by Debra Ghigna) relaxing after my signing at the Alabama Booksmith
Homewood, Alabama
April 28, 2023
(photo by Debra Ghigna) Monroeville, Alabama
March 3-4, 2023
Book signing table with Joy Harjo
Monroeville Literary Festival
Monroeville, Alabama
March 4, 2023
Homewood, Alabama
Jan. 27, 2023
(photo by Maureen Kelley) With Chip, Debra, Julie and Sparky
Santa Cruz, CaliforniaNov 23, 2022
(photo by Scott Pierce)
Santa Cruz, California
Nov 23, 2022
(photo by Scott Pierce) With Debra and Chip
Thanksgving Day
at the home of Keela and Dave Robison
Los Gatos, California
Nov 24, 2022
(photo by Scott Pierce) With Debra Ghigna on the Santa Cruz Wharf
Santa Cruz, California
Reading at home
Alabama 5-City Book Tour
with Anna from the movie Frozen
Nov 25, 2022
(photo by Chip Ghigna) Celebrating one million books published by Random House
Springville Road Library
Birmingham, Alabama
Oct 18, 2022
(photos by Chip Ghigna)
Little Professor Bookshop
Homewood, Alabama
May 2022
(photo by Elise Ferrer)
Homewood, Alabama
December 2020
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
Chip Ghigna and Charles Ghigna
At home in the backyard
Homewood, Alabama
April 2020
(photo by Erin Nelson)
with Mayor Scott McBrayer
Homewood Public Library
Homewood, Alabama
Dec. 14, 2019
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with Homewood Librarians
Mary Eller, Deborah Fout, and Laura Tucker
at the Jefferson County Public Library Association
Champions Banquet
Hoover Met Center
Hoover, Alabama
Dec. 3, 2019
with Librarians from the Children's Department
of the Homewood Public Library
Cristina Castor, Mary Eller, Laura Tucker, Aaliyah
at the Jefferson County Public Library Association
Champions Banquet
Hoover Met Center
Hoover, Alabama
Dec. 3, 2019
Trussville Public Library
Trussville, Alabama
Oct. 6, 2019
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
Granddaughter Charlotte Rose Ghigna
and her daddy Chip Ghigna
visiting the Treehouse
Homewood, Alabama
2019
The University of Alabama
Gorgas Library
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
May 11, 2019
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
Books-A-Million
Brookwood Village
Homewood, Alabama
Mar. 23, 2019
Homewood Public Library
Booksigning
Homewood, Alabama
Jan. 2, 2019
Alabama Literacy Association Conference
Birmingham, Alabama
Nov. 1, 2019
with Whitman editor Mary Burleson and publisher Dawn Burbank
Alabama Chapter of the American Pediatrics Meeting
Florence, Alabama
August 28, 2018
with editors
National Geographic Books for Children
American Library Association Convention
New Orleans, Louisiana
June 25, 2018
National Science Teachers Association Conference
Atlanta, Georgia
March 17, 2018
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with Debra Ghigna
Museum of Modern Art
New York City
Dec. 15, 2017
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
with Debra Ghigna
The Roosevelt Hotel
New York City
Dec. 13-18, 2017
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
Out the window of the Treehouse
Homewood, Alabama
Dec. 8, 2017
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
"Father Goose meets Goosebumps"
Southern Kentucky Book Fest
Bowling Green, Kentucky
2017
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
Helena Intermediate School
Helena, Alabama
2017
Books-A-Million Bookstore
Animal Planet Book
Winner of National Science Teachers Association Award
Birmingham, AL
2016
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
The Walker School
Marietta, Georgia
2016
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with Charlottle Rose Ghigna
FoxTale Book Shoppe
Woodstock, Georgia
2016
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with Jake Reiss, Chip Ghigna, Debra Ghigna
Alabama Booksmith
Homewood, Alabama
December 8, 2016
Tea Time in the Treehouse
Homewood, Alabama
2015
with Anna from the movie Frozen
Huntsville, Alabama
2015
Barnes & Noble Bookstore
Birmingham, Alabama
2015
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
Homewood Public Library
Homewood, Alabama
2015
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
with Charlotte Rose Ghigna
Chip Ghigna Art Show
The Ellenburg Art Gallery - Homewood Library
Homewood, Alabama
2015
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
St Tropez, France
2015
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
with Debra Ghigna in Montmartre
Paris, France
2015
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
with daughter, Julie Pierce
at the top of the Statue of Vulcan
Birmingham, Alabama
2014
(photo by Scott Pierce)
with Debra celebrating the Elo Pillow
containing thirty-two of our audio stories
Homewood, Alabama
2014
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
with Debra Ghigna and Librarian Ashley Fowlkes
Southern Kentucky Book Fest
Bowling Green, Kentucky
2014
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with illustrator Lori Nichols
Homewood Public Library
Homewood, Alabama
2014
Reading to children on a float
Homewood Christmas Parade
Homewood, Alabama
2013
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
with Deborah Fout, Homewood Library Director
Christmas Parade
Homewood, Alabama
2013
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
Texas Library Association
Dallas, Texas
2013
with Rebecca Davis, Charles Waters, Amy VanDerwater, Rebecca Kai Dotlich
Texas Library Association
Dallas, Texas
2013
with Debra Ghigna
Destin Beach, Florida
2013
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
with Charlotte Rose Ghigna
Birmingham Zoo
Birmingham, Alabama
2012
(photo by Chip Ghigna)
with Charlotte Rose Ghigna in the Treehouse
Homewood, Alabama
2012
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
Homewood Public Library
Homewood, Alabama
2012
(photo by Brigid Galloway)
with granddaughter, Charlotte Rose Ghigna
Toys R Us
Birmingham, Alabama
2011
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with wife Debra Ghigna, son Chip Ghigna, and daughter Julie Pierce
Seattle, Washington
2009
(photo by Scott Pierce)
with Debra
Homewood, Alabama
2008
(photo by Beverly Taylor)
Homewood Public Library
Homewood, Alabama
2007
with Honey in the Treehouse
Homewood, Alabama
2006
(photo by Beau Gustafson)
with Honey and children
in the front yard of our home
Homewood, Alabama
2003
(photo by Beau Gustafson)
with Rick Bragg and Debra Ghigna
Birmingham Public Library
Birmingham, Alabama
2000
with Chip Ghigna, Julie Pierce, and Debra Ghigna
San Francisco, California
1999
(photo by Scott Pierce)
Cooper Memorial Library
Opelika, Alabama
1998
(photo by Katie Lamar Smith)
Charles Ghigna, Jon Agee, Patricia Gauch, and Eric Carle
The de Grummand Children's Literature Collection
University of Southern Mississippi
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
1997
Booksigning
Books-A-Million / Eastwood Mall
Birmingham, Alabama
1994
with Mark Strand
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah1993
with two of my creative writing students, Heather Brinson and Brad Armstrong.
Brad won 1st Place for Poetry and Heather won 1st Place for
Fiction.
This was the first time two student
winners came from the same state (Alabama),
same school (Alabama School
of Fine Arts), and the same class!
Previous student winners include Sylvia Path,
Truman Capote,
John Updike, Stephen King, and Amanda Gorman.
Still waiting for the call from MLB 😎
Waldorf Astoria
New York, New York
1991
Creative Writing Lab
Alabama School of Fine Arts
Birmingham, Alabama
1991
Three Generations of Charles Vincent Ghigna
My father, my son, and me
Franklin, North Carolina
1988
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with Carolyn Scott, Fiction Instructor
Teachers Lounge
Alabama School of Fine Arts
Birmingham, Alabama
1986
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Six-week summer residency
Washington, DC
1984
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with Debra Ghigna
Seattle, Washington
This photo was taken right after my interview with NASA Space Center
for the Poet in Space Project on the Space Shuttle Challenger.
President Reagan later changed the mission to the Teacher in Space Project.
The Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight,
killing all seven crew members, including Christa McAuliffe,
the teacher chosen for this mission.
1984
City Lights Bookstore
San Francisco, California
1983
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with James Baldwin
Alabama School of Fine Arts
Birmingham, Alabama
1982
(photo by John Northrop)
Baylor School for Boys
Chattanooga, Tennessee
1982
Columbiana, Alabama
1981
with poet Robert Hayden
Montgomery, Alabama
1979
Robert Hayden and Charles Ghigna
Library of Congress
Washington, DC
1978
Alabama State Poetry Society
Arlington Home
Birmingham, Alabama
1978
Homewood, Alabama
1977
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
with Debra Ghigna
London, England
1977
(photo by Chris Lawson)
Huntsville, Alabama
1976
(photo by Tim Weber)
Northeast Mississippi Jr. College
Booneville, Mississippi
1976
Homewood, Alabama
1975
(photo by Debra Ghigna)
Birmingham, Alabama
1974
(photo by Beck Wilson)
Homewood, AL
1974
Celebrating the publication of the poem
"The Alabama Wiregrassers" in Harper's Magazine
and the first year as Poetry Editor of English Journal
for the National Council of Teachers of English
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Florida
1974
Age 18
Leaving for College