A POEM FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

******************************

American Life in Poetry: Column 503

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE

 

As a writer and reader, there’s hardly anything I enjoy more than coming upon fresh new ways of describing things, and here’s a sparkling way of looking at an avalanche, by Marty Walsh, who lives in Maine. The snow's/feet slip  out from under it and down the mountain slope it comes flat on its back white skirt and billowy petticoats blowing back over its head, whiplashing rickety pine sapling as it passes, bowling boulders left and right until it comes to a juddering sudden heart- thumping stop just shy of the little village in the valley far below.

POETRY EVENT FOR CHICAGO RESIDENTS

UPCOMING FOUNDATION EVENTS IN CHICAGO

Wednesday, January 7, 10:00AM

Wednesday Poemtime

The Poetry Foundation Library welcomes children ages two to five to a storytime event that introduces poetry through fun, interactive readings and crafts.

READING

Thursday, January 8, 7:00PM

Las Chavas: Poetry and Film from Honduras featuring Richard Blanco, Brad Coley, & Cheryl Chapman

Join Richard Blanco, the fifth inaugural poet of the U.S.; Brad Coley, director of the forthcoming documentary Las Chavas; and Cheryl Chapman, executive director of Our Little Roses, the only all-girl orphanage in Honduras, for an evening of poetry and film at the Poetry Foundation.

A POEM FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

American Life in Poetry: Column 502

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE

 

Many poets have attempted to describe the way in which flocks of birds fly, as if they were steered by a single consciousness. In the following poem, David Allan Evans gives us a new metaphor for the way light shows through the flying birds. Evans is Poet Laureate of South Dakota. Sixty Years Later I Notice, Inside A Flock Of Blackbirds,  the Venetian blinds I dusted off for my mother on Saturday mornings, closing, opening them with the pull cord a few times just to watch the outside universe keep blinking, as the flock suddenly rises from November stubble, hovers a few seconds, closing, opening, blinking, before it tilts, then vanishes over a hill.

READ THIS POEM OUT LOUD!

 A Visit from St. Nicholas

BY CLEMENT CLARKE MOORE

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds;

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,

Gave a lustre of midday to objects below,

When what to my wondering eyes did appear,

But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer,

With a little old driver so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:

"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen!

On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donner and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;

So up to the housetop the coursers they flew

With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too—

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my head, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a pedler just opening his pack.

His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly

That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight—

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

Source: The Random House Book of Poetry for Children (Random House Inc., 1983)

POETRY EVENT FOR NEW YORK CITY RESIDENTS

Master classes at POETS HOUSE offer advanced writers of poetry an opportunity to work intensively with some of the most respected poets of our time.

Applications are required; space is limited; Fee: $390

words + pictures with Elaine Equi
Saturday, January 17, 2015, 12:00-4:00pm
Sunday, January, 18, 2015, 12:00-4:00pm

Elaine Equi's recent books include Ripple Effect: New & Selected Poems, and Click and Clone. A new collection,Sentences and Rain, is forthcoming in 2015. She teaches at New York University and in the MFA Program at The New School.

Application Deadline: Friday, December 19, 2014

Master Class Application Guidelines In a single attachment, email three poems accompanied by a cover sheet with your name, address, email address, phone number, and the name of class for which you are applying toclasses@poetshouse.org. Poems must arrive by the designated deadline. No names or addresses should appear on the poems themselves.

WINTER WEDDING
Holiday Cards by Poets

On view during library hours 
through Saturday, March 21, 2015

Winter Wedding: Holiday Cards by Poets features cards, valentines, birthday greetings, rare booklets, and more from some of the last century’s most beloved poets, including Langston Hughes, Robert Frost, Alice Notley, Ted Berrigan, Seamus Heaney, and Sylvia Plath. Ranging from intimate exchanges to collaborative artworks to annual original compositions, the pieces in the show offer a fascinating look at the ties of love and friendship behind the literary success, as well as at shifting styles and conventions in correspondence.

Curated by Kevin Young and Lisa Chinn, items are drawn primarily from the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library, part of the Manuscript, Archives, & Rare Book Library at Emory University. Young is curator of the Danowski Poetry Library and Emory’s Atticus Haygood Professor of English and Creative Writing; Chinn is a fifth-year PhD candidate in the Department of English. They previously collaborated at Poets House on the 2013-14 exhibition come celebrate with me: The Work of Lucille Clifton.

Read a review of this "intimate glimpse into genius" inThe Guardian

View a slide show from the exhibit in : The New York Times Style Magazine

Free

For details log on to poetshouse.org

A POEM FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

American Life in Poetry: Column 501

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE

 

I love a good ghost story, and here’s one about a ghost cat, by John Philip Johnson, who lives in Nebraska, where most ghosts live in the wind and are heard in the upper branches of cedar trees in country cemeteries. He has an illustrated book of poems, Stairs Appear in a Hole Outside of Town. Bones and Shadows  She kept its bones in a glass case next to the recliner in the living room, and sometimes thought she heard him mewing, like a faint background music; but if she stopped to listen, it disappeared. Likewise with a nuzzling around her calves, she’d reach absent-mindedly to scratch him, but her fingers found nothing but air. One day, in the corner of her eye, slinking by the sofa, there was a shadow. She glanced over, expecting it to vanish. But this time it remained. She looked at it full on. She watched it move. Low and angular, not quite as catlike as one might suppose, but still, it was him. She walked to the door, just like in the old days, and opened it, and met a whoosh of winter air. She waited. The bones in the glass case rattled. Then the cat-shadow darted at her, through her legs, and slipped outside. It mingled with the shadows of bare branches, and leapt at the shadow of a bird. She looked at the tree, but there was no bird. Then he blended into the shadow of a bush. She stood in the threshold, her hands on the door, the sharp breeze ruffling the faded flowers of her house dress, and she could feel her own bones rattling in her body, her own shadow trying to slip out.

READ THIS POEM OUT LOUD!

The Outlet (162)   Emily Dickinson

My river runs to thee: Blue sea, wilt welcome me? My river waits reply. Oh sea, look graciously! I’ll fetch thee brooks From spotted nooks,— Say, sea, Take me!

BIRTH OF A POET

EMILY ELIZABETH NORCROSS DICKINSON, named for her mother, was born on this day in 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts, in an old house that was said to have been the first erected of brick in Amherst.

Although she lived most of her life as a recluse, she was a prolific poet, writing poems on various themes; most of them dealt with death and immortality.

Her first collection of poems were published in 1890, four years after her death. However, she is now considered as one of the most important American poets of all time.

Google-search her name to learn the details of her incredible life.

A POEM FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE

 

This is our 500th weekly column, and we want to thank the newspapers who publish us, the poets who are so generous with their work, our sponsors The Poetry Foundation, The Library of Congress, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln English Department, and our many readers, in print and on line. Almost every week I read in our local newspaper that some custodial parent has had to call in the law to stand by while a child is transferred to its other parent amidst some post-divorce hostility. So it’s a pleasure to read this poem by Elise Hempel, who lives in Illinois, in which the transfer is attended only by a little heartache. The Transfer  His car rolls up to the curb, you switch your mood, which doll to bring and rush out again on the sliding steps of your shoes half-on, forgetting to zip your new pink coat in thirty degrees, teeth and hair not brushed, already passing the birch, mid-way between us, too far to hear my fading voice calling my rope of reminders as I lean out in my robe, another Saturday morning you’re pulled toward his smile, his gifts, sweeping on two flattened rafts from mine to his, your fleeting wave down the rapids of the drive.

POETRY EVENT FOR WASHINGTON, D.C. RESIDENTS

Monday, December 8, 9:00 AM-5:00 PM
EMILY DICKINSON DAY & EVENING

 Help celebrate the poet's 184th birthday by helping us read her poems! This event is free and open to the public. To participate in the "Emily Dickinson Birthday Marathon Reading,"please sign up online for a 10-minute reading slot. Presented in partnership with the Folger Shakespeare Library.

Location: LJ-119, first floor, Thomas Jefferson Building <view map>
Contact: (202) 707-5394

Thursday, December 11, 1:00 PM
BAGLEY WRIGHT LECTURE SERIES: TIMOTHY DONNELLY

As part of the ongoing series, Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award winner Timothy Donnelly will give a lecture on poetry. This event is free and open to the public.

Location: Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor, James Madison Building <view map>
Contact: (202) 707-5394

==========================
AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS
=========================

Book launch, Dickinsons in Love featured Emily Dickinson's birthday December 10

---

Emily Dickinson's birthday is on Wednesday, December 10, and the Emily Dickinson Museum will celebrate the occasion with the launch of a novel about Dickinson and a special presentation of "Dickinsons in Love."  

Continuing the theme, Susan Snively will read from her new novel, The Heart Has Many Doors, which explores the relationship between Emily Dickinson and Judge Otis Lord, will begin at 5 pm at the Amherst Woman's Club at 35 Triangle Street in Amherst. A booksigning and reception will follow.   

Susan Snively is a guide, discussion leader, and film script writer for the Emily Dickinson Museum. The author of four books of poetry, she was the founder and first director of the Writing Center at Amherst College, where she worked from 1981 until 2008. Learn more about her work at www.susansnively.com.

"Dickinsons in Love" will be offered at both 3 pm and 7 pm. Those intrigued by the stories shared in The Heart Has Many Doors will enjoy hearing more about the love lives of the Dickinson family. For more details, click here

IX

The heart asks pleasure first,
And then, excuse from pain;
And then, those little anodynes
That deaden suffering;

And then, to go to sleep;
And then, if it should be
The will of its Inquisitor,
The liberty to die.



EMILY DICKINSON

UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN

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ALL ENTRIES ON THIS BLOG WILL BE SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!!!

 I AM OFFICIALLY WRITING A BOOK FOR NATIONAL NOVEL WRITER'S MONTH IN NOVEMBER  2014  (#NANOWRIMO) 

 I WILL ALSO PARTICIPATE IN  THE 2014 NOVEMBER PAD CHAPBOOK CHALLENGE.

For information on these two events please log on to nanowrimo.org and writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/poetic-asides
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*** In order to get a comprehensive view of the prompt-to-poetry process of learning, please review the archives of the LET'S  TALK POETRY blog in chronological order. 

                                                SEE YOU REAL SOON!


***Most images on blog are courtesy of stockvault.net

PROMPT 30 - THE EFFORT

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

SPEAKING OF ASPECTS

first of all

i don't even know

why they would

bring up the

subject of astrology

and even speak on it

as if they had

some sort of experience

in the strength and

weaknesses of planets

of houses and aspects of

the lunar and solar cycles

in a birth chart

because believe it

or not gentlemen

i have studied

the  fine art of

deciphering

what these things

represent in your life

so this topic of

discussion could 

very well entice

me and i could

go on and on

THIS JUST IN

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NEW YORK CITY
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Coming up at POETS HOUSE : 

Saturday 11/1 @ 10 am
NY Writers Coalition Write-A-Thon - A day of free writing workshops, lectures,and more for underserved populations throughout the five boroughs.
======================
Workshop: 6 Saturdays starting 11/1 @11:30 am, "Departures: A Way to Start the Poem," with Patricia Spears Jones
============================
Sunday 11/2 @ 8:30 pm - 10:30 pm
The Bowery Poetry Club presents the third night of it's new evening reading series for poets and writers. It is held on the first Sundays of each month.
===============================
Workshop: Thursday 11/6 @  7 pm, "To Be Fair," Stephen Burt on Poetry and Criticism. He will discuss the paradox of how to read your own work as if you didn't write it.
========================
Monday, 11/10 @6 pm - 8 pm - Reading and Panel Discussion with the IOWA INTERNATIONAL WRITING PROGRAM'S RESIDENT POETS.



For a complete listing of events, times, and locations log on to poetshouse.org

A POEM FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

American Life in Poetry: Column 499

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE

 

To celebrate my 75th year, I’ve published a new book of poems, and many of them are about the way in which we come together to help each other through the world. Here’s just one: Two  On a parking lot staircase I met two fine-looking men descending, both in slacks and dress shirts, neckties much alike, one of the men in his sixties, the other a good twenty years older, unsteady on his polished shoes, a son and his father, I knew from their looks, the son with his right hand on the handrail, the father, left hand on the left, and in the middle they were holding hands, and when I neared, they opened the simple gate of their interwoven fingers to let me pass, then reached out for each other and continued on.

POETIC BIRTHDAY

======================
1932
=======

SYLVIA PLATH, poet/writer was born on this day, in Boston, Massachusetts. While still in her teens she was a gifted student publishing stories and poetry in national magazines, and winning numerous awards.

She attended Smith College, and Newnham College at Cambridge University on scholarships, eventually graduating with high honors in English from Smith College.

During her early years in college, Plath suffered from symptoms of severe depression which eventually lead to her death by suicide in 1963.

In spite of these personal difficulties, Plath became an acclaimed poet and is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry to a higher level of respectability. She is best known for her volume of poetry The Colossus and other Poems published in 1960.

Plath  won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1981 for her volume, The Collected Poems.  She was the first poet to win the award posthumously.

To read her complete biography Google her name. To read her poetry log on to poetryfoundation.org , poets.org, and poemhunters.com 

WRITE-A-POEM

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

PROMPT 30 - WRITE A POEM WITH A LINE THAT (ENDS OR BEGINS)
WITH THE EXPRESSION, "I COULD GO ON AND ON."

PROMPT 29 - THE EFFORT

===================================

WHAT IT IS

the value of

poetry to me is 

far more than 

the eyes can see 

far more

than diamonds and gold

it's true worth                                                                

can not be bankrolled

the value of poetry 

in case you haven't 

heard

is defined by the power

in the created word

OHIO POETRY DAY

==================================
OHIO POETRY DAY TAKES PLACE THIS WEEKEND 10/24-25
IN TROY, OHIO


THERE WILL BE WORKSHOPS, READINGS, CONTESTS, ASSORTED OTHER GOODIES, AND A BOX PICNIC LUNCH ON SATURDAY (10/25)

AS AN ADDED ATTRACTION, THERE WILL BE A SPECIAL READING BY THE 2014 OHIO CO-POETS OF THE YEAR

For a complete schedule of events log on to ohiopoetryassn.blogspot.com

WRITE-A-POEMTIME

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PROMPT 29 - Write a poem to answer the question: What is the value of poetry to me?

PROMPT 28 - THE EFFORT

============================================

FED UP

as if it were not enough

that i was forced

to spend all week long

away from home with

my cousin rob hanging

with his bad-ass friends

on ellery street dennis 
and raymond where

we played ringolivio 1-2-3 in          

the alleyways behind

rob's rundown building

where dennis tripped me 

down while running

on purpose and i cut                                                                       

my finger on a broken

wine bottle then we                                       

broke window panes

in the school yard on                                                           

bushwick ave for awhile

and dennis menacing me

threw a rock

on purpose that hit my

forehead leaving a

quarter-sized knot there

and when we all

went to the store for

my aunt round noon and

stole chocolate candy

from the bodega on

troutman street and dennis

mushed my hershey bar

with almonds before he

knocked it to the ground

on purpose so i took a

deep breath after all 
it was summer vacation
and finally 

my favorite time of day 

came afternoon and rob

said you gotta get him

back but not now it

was quiet time at the 
public library

reading karate books

and boys life magazines 

i was elated until six when

we had to leave where on

the way back my thoughts

were of joining the boy

scouts taking the oath

to do my best

to do my duty

to G-d and

somewhere between

respect and at all times

dennis smashes me in

the middle of my back

near the base of

my spine which dropped

me to my knees and

i couldn't take any more

and they had to pull me

off him but only after

his eyeballs were red

and swollen and i was

so mad with pent up anger

i was going to

kill him

on purpose

UPCOMING EVENT

================================
YOU are cordially invited to join in three days of poetry with over thirty
poets. It is the eighth annual POETS FORUM presented by the ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS.

It takes place from October 16-18 in NEW YORK CITY

For a list of participating poets, locations and times log on to poets.org or click on poetsforum2014.eventbrite.com

A POEM FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

American Life in Poetry: Column 498

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE

 

Here’s a lovely poem for this lovely month, by Robert Haight, who lives in Michigan. Early October Snow  It will not stay. But this morning we wake to pale muslin stretched across the grass. The pumpkins, still in the fields, are planets shrouded by clouds. The Weber wears a dunce cap and sits in the corner by the garage where asters wrap scarves around their necks to warm their blooms. The leaves, still soldered to their branches by a frozen drop of dew, splash apple and pear paint along the roadsides. It seems we have glanced out a window into the near future, mid-December, say, the black and white photo of winter carefully laid over the present autumn, like a morning we pause at the mirror inspecting the single strand of hair that overnight has turned to snow.

THIS JUST IN...

..........................................................................
WASHINGTON. D.C.
.........................................

Lecture: Poetry As Enchantment

On Tuesday 10/14 @Noon, Dana Gioia, poet and essayist will discuss the relationship between poetry and music and explore the ways in which poetry achieves it's special expressive power.

This event is FREE

For details click on loc.gov/poetry/events
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
CHICAGO
++++++++++++++++

On Thursday 10/16 @6 p.m., come celebrate with The Poetry Foundation and the Chicago Public Library and join poets from two generations for the 60th Annual Poetry Day.

Poetry Day was inaugurated by Robert Frost in 1955. It is the oldest and most distinguished poetry reading series in the country.

ADMISSION IS FREE

For details click on poetryfoundation.org

WRITE-A-POEMTIME

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
PROMPT 28 - Write a poem describing your reactions when "push comes to shove."

PROMPT 27 - THE EFFORT

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
COME TO THINK OF IT


at first thought:

i mean really
what difference does
it make today what
went on yesterday
with my ancestors living
out their lives
i mean really
what can i learn from
following a paper trail
from the 1940 census in                              
marlboro county south carolina
that could affect me now
i thought                                                            

but
when i saw that
faded old piece of
wrinkled paper with names
in black and white that
showed my great granddaddy's
handwriting showing he
was quite literate
a minister a businessman
a property owner in
his day and time
with the types of
obstacles he had to face
and overcome
it made me confident that
given the not so terrible
conditions under which
i live unlike my forefathers
i can do whatever i
put my mind to do

so on second thought:

genealogy took on a
different meaning and
purpose in my life now
a source of
inspiration

ELEMENTS OF POETRY

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
TONE-  The tone of a poem is roughly equivalent to the mood it creates in the reader. Much, however, depends on interpretation.

Tone is the emotional spin a poet puts on his words; the edge or attitude in the "voice of a poem."

When we talk to someone, we can hear their tone of voice. It is the same with a poem.

A poem gives its readers clues about how you should feel about it.


SYMBOLISM - A symbol is an image that radiates meaning perhaps hard to express in other words, but can be felt. It plunges to the "soul" of the reader.

Poems will often convey ideas and thoughts using symbols.  Symbols can stand for many things at one time and leads the reader out of a systematic and structured method of looking at things.

THIS JUST IN

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NEW YORK CITY
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POETRY SOCIETY OF AMERICA ANNUAL AWARDS


Each year from October thru December the Poetry Society of America holds contests for poets at all stages of their careers.

A prize for high school students, our Chapbook Fellowships for, and our award for a poet over 40 who has published no more than 1 book.

These are just a few.  Accepting submissions 10/1 --12/22

For more info and guidelines click on poetrysociety.org   

A POEM FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

American Life in Poetry: Column 497
By Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate



I’d guess everybody reading this has felt the guilt of getting rid of belongings that meant more to somebody else than they did to you. Here’s a poem by Jennifer Maier, who lives in Seattle. Don’t call her up. All her stuff is gone.




Rummage Sale

Forgive me, Aunt Phyllis, for rejecting the cut
glass dishes—the odd set you gathered piece
by piece from thirteen boxes of Lux laundry soap.

Pardon me, eggbeater, for preferring the whisk;
and you, small ship in a bottle, for the diminutive
size of your ocean. Please don’t tell my mother,

hideous lamp, that the light you provided
was never enough. Domestic deities, do not be angry
that my counters are not white with flour;

no one is sorrier than I, iron skillet, for the heavy
longing for lightness directing my mortal hand.
And my apologies, to you, above all,

forsaken dresses, that sway from a rod between
ladders behind me, clicking your plastic tongues
at the girl you once made beautiful,

and the woman, with a hard heart and
softening body, who stands in the driveway
making change.

WRITE-A-POEMTIME

*************************************************
PROMPT  27- Write a poem describing the renewal of your interest or feeling for something or someone.

PROMPT 26 - THE EFFORT

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
PLUGGED-IN


i feel a connection
to other people
when i look around
and see
they all have exactly
the same concerns as me

too much month
at the                                    
end of my money
sugar in my herb tea
instead of clover honey

food prices sky high
and here's the real keeper
cat food instead of tuna
is not really cheaper

and when it's all over
no matter what you worth
we all end up going
right back to mother earth

THIS JUST IN...

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CELEBRATE THE 5TH ANNUAL DPRD LOCALLY FROM  FRIDAY 10/4-SUNDAY 10/12


Dead Poets Remembrance Day (DPRD) is a national literary holiday dedicated to remembering our past poets. This is meant to be a celebration from the "ground up." Meaning, the holiday has taken hold among people in local communities who honor poets that lived in their areas.

While some past events have been planned in conjunction with State Arts Agencies, most events take place in conjunction with poetry associations and individuals.

So plan your own events:- Meet at a poet's grave;

                                           - Meet in a bookstore or library;

                                           - Meet in a public park or space and invite people
                                             to read poetry aloud;

                                           - Make the holiday part of a regularly scheduled
                                             poetry or literary day;

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OHIO
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In celebration of Dead Poets Remembrance Day:

The LET'S TALK POETRY group will have a reading of select poems from  Ohio's own Paul Laurence Dunbar on  Saturday 10/4 at 7 pm at the amphitheater in John Bishop Memorial Park on Langley Avenue in Whitehall, Ohio.

 Other readings*** scheduled to take place during the week: Monday 10/6-Walt Whitman (NY) and Emily Dickinson (Mass); Tuesday 10/7- Amiri Baraka (NJ) and Gwendolyn Brooks (Kan); Saturday 10/11- Lucille Clifton (NY) and Maya Angelou (MZ)

***Readings are subject to change. Log on to site for updates.
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NEW YORK CITY
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On Thursday, 10/9 @7 pm join The Poetry Society of America  as they celebrate the 80th birthday of legendary poet Mark Strand with readings and tributes by the 20th U.S. Poet Laureate, Charles Wright, Edward Hirsch,  and others.

This program is co-sponsored by the Academy of American Poets, the New School Writing Program, and the Poetry Foundation.

The event will be held at the New School Auditorium at 66 West 12th Street.

ADMISSION IS FREE 

For a full list of attendees long on to poetrysociety.org