Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Wednesday Poet Series - Break
I am taking a break from the Wednesday Poet series while I work on becoming more acquainted with a couple of poets I wish to feature here. I cannot say that I will be back with the series as early as next week, but that is a possibility. I want the presentations to be more in depth, and I simply cannot do justice to the next few presentations I want to do without more time. In the past, Stickpoet has undertaken some interviews and I am looking at incorporating interviews into this series from time to time, where the opportunity might be available.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Tuesday & Tootsie Rolls
Laurel Snyder's post of October 18th caught my attention. She said she has been busy, among other things thinking about people who have clean houses and how hard it is to trust people with super clean houses. But what really caught my attention was her thoughts on: how a century from now, people will look back and ask themselves why we allowed our government to kill people. They will ask themselves, as we ask ourselves about slavery and the holocaust, "Why didn't they know it was wrong?"
Anyway, I share her view on capital punishment and I would extend this to include how our government treats others it has in detention. Anyway, read her post. BTW - I would like to meet King Arthur too!
Then, the New Zoo Poet asks: What is the longest you've ever worked on one poem? Wow! I wish I could answer that.
Looking forward to tonight's World Series game. Hope Detroit's pitchers leave their Tootsie Rolls at home.
I found this item interesting. The Grand Rounds, is a weekly event at Dartmouth Medical School. It's an academic forum in which physicians and researchers make scientific presentations. Recently, U.S. Poet Laureate Donald Hall added a new dimension to the forum by reading works about illness, grief and living life fully. Hall is no stranger to these subjects, a cancer survivor himself and of course having lost his wife to that same illness. Dr. Ira Byock, director of Palliative Medicine at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center said that the union between medicine and poetry has great therapeutic potential
Anyway, I share her view on capital punishment and I would extend this to include how our government treats others it has in detention. Anyway, read her post. BTW - I would like to meet King Arthur too!
Then, the New Zoo Poet asks: What is the longest you've ever worked on one poem? Wow! I wish I could answer that.
Looking forward to tonight's World Series game. Hope Detroit's pitchers leave their Tootsie Rolls at home.
I found this item interesting. The Grand Rounds, is a weekly event at Dartmouth Medical School. It's an academic forum in which physicians and researchers make scientific presentations. Recently, U.S. Poet Laureate Donald Hall added a new dimension to the forum by reading works about illness, grief and living life fully. Hall is no stranger to these subjects, a cancer survivor himself and of course having lost his wife to that same illness. Dr. Ira Byock, director of Palliative Medicine at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center said that the union between medicine and poetry has great therapeutic potential
Balancing Act
The public clamoring for community poet laureates is on the rise. Almost at an unbelievable clip. Kind of like the Dow Jones average climbing higher and higher on a graph. This has of course given poets and poetry a much higher public profile in recent years. Not only do we have a U.S. poet laureate, but many states, cities and even smaller municipalities are crowning their own as well.
This of course affords these entities someone in an official capacity to represent the community at significant community and or public events and these individuals are often called upon to recite a poem that relates to the community or the occasion that is being acknowledged. Often the poet may write something specific for the occasion.
But poets are a rare breed. And to ask a poet to speak at a public gathering and use their talent to express imagery and emotion can be like striking a match to a stick of dynamite. That is because poets tend to pull from the deepest pool of their inner-self. Therein lies a rich honesty that not all may like.
Last week, the poet Nikki Giovanni was asked to recite at a dedication in Cincinnati and her poem I am Cincinnati was emotionally and politically charged. Her poem struck out at some politicians and was laced with language that raised a lot of eyebrows. I suspect it would have been impossible for Giovanni to have addressed the crowd on this occasion with, shall we say etiquette and social grace; and at the same time remain true to herself. Given this choice to balance, I believe more times than not, a poet is going to remain true to themselves.
There are many instances of poets whose words have fallen on disfavor of certain segments of the public. The poet Amiri Baraka, for example , who was fired as poet laureate of New Jersey after his words in a poem on 9-11 were upsetting to some.
The juxtaposition created by the growing desire for very public and "official" poetry on one hand and the sometimes resulting unhappiness with content of publicly read poems creates an interesting dilemma for the poets and the community at large.
tags: Nikki Giovanni poetry censorship Free Speech self censorship
This of course affords these entities someone in an official capacity to represent the community at significant community and or public events and these individuals are often called upon to recite a poem that relates to the community or the occasion that is being acknowledged. Often the poet may write something specific for the occasion.
But poets are a rare breed. And to ask a poet to speak at a public gathering and use their talent to express imagery and emotion can be like striking a match to a stick of dynamite. That is because poets tend to pull from the deepest pool of their inner-self. Therein lies a rich honesty that not all may like.
Last week, the poet Nikki Giovanni was asked to recite at a dedication in Cincinnati and her poem I am Cincinnati was emotionally and politically charged. Her poem struck out at some politicians and was laced with language that raised a lot of eyebrows. I suspect it would have been impossible for Giovanni to have addressed the crowd on this occasion with, shall we say etiquette and social grace; and at the same time remain true to herself. Given this choice to balance, I believe more times than not, a poet is going to remain true to themselves.
There are many instances of poets whose words have fallen on disfavor of certain segments of the public. The poet Amiri Baraka, for example , who was fired as poet laureate of New Jersey after his words in a poem on 9-11 were upsetting to some.
The juxtaposition created by the growing desire for very public and "official" poetry on one hand and the sometimes resulting unhappiness with content of publicly read poems creates an interesting dilemma for the poets and the community at large.
tags: Nikki Giovanni poetry censorship Free Speech self censorship
If this sounds Confusing...
One headline: Staying the course no more - Bush changes policy in wake of pressure as election nears (source) and another, WHITE HOUSE WON'T SHIFT IRAQ STRATEGY- Bush Officials: No Plan for Big Iraq Strategy Shift or Ultimatum to Iraqi Leaders (source). If this sounds confusing to you, then you are not alone. This is a president that has lying and deception down to an art. And my question to you is why, in the weeks before the mid-term elections should we believe ANYTHING that this man or those representing him say?
Tags: Iraq War Bush Republicans GOP elections
Tags: Iraq War Bush Republicans GOP elections
Monday, October 23, 2006
The Poetry Exercise's Logical Conclusion: New Book of Poems Consists of Exercises for Readers to Write Poems - PR.com
The Poetry Exercise's Logical Conclusion: New Book of Poems Consists of Exercises for Readers to Write Poems - PR.com
Blue lion books believes that an idea, if expressed, should be expressed in its fullest manner. one of our newest books is Catherine Daly’s third book of poetry, To Delite and Instruct, a 276-page romp through the idea of poetry-writing exercises.
tags: Catherine Daly poetry
Blue lion books believes that an idea, if expressed, should be expressed in its fullest manner. one of our newest books is Catherine Daly’s third book of poetry, To Delite and Instruct, a 276-page romp through the idea of poetry-writing exercises.
tags: Catherine Daly poetry
Saturday, October 21, 2006
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