POETRY EVENTS - CHICAGO

EVENT

Wednesday, January 28, 7:00PM

Language Matters with Bob Holman: A Celebration of Mother Tongues

There are over 6,000 languages remaining in the world. We lose one every two weeks. Noted filmmaker David Grubin and poet Bob Holman have teamed up to produce Language Matters, a two-hour documentary that...

Wednesday, February 4, 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.

LECTURE

Thursday, February 5, 6:30PM

Harriet Reading Series: Performance by Jennifer Tamayo

The Harriet Reading Series features talks, performances, and readings by poets whose work has appeared on Harriet, the Poetry Foundation’s blog. The series presents both established and emerging poets whose...

READ THIS POEM OUT LOUD

Passers-by   Carl Sandburg

Passers-by, Out of your many faces Flash memories to me Now at the day end Away from the sidewalks Where your shoe soles traveled And your voices rose and blent To form the city’s afternoon roar Hindering an old silence. Passers-by, I remember lean ones among you, Throats in the clutch of a hope, Lips written over with strivings, Mouths that kiss only for love, Records of great wishes slept with,         Held long And prayed and toiled for:         Yes, Written on Your mouths And your throats I read them When you passed by.

A POEM FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

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American Life in Poetry: Column 505

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE

 

Stuart Kestenbaum is a Maine poet with a new book, Only Now, from Deerbrook Editions. In it are a number of thoughtful poems posed as prayers, and here’s an example: Prayer for Joy  What was it we wanted to say anyhow, like today when there were all the letters in my alphabet soup and suddenly the ‘j’ rises to the surface. The ‘j’, a letter that might be great for Scrabble, but not really used for much else, unless we need to jump for joy, and then all of a sudden it’s there and ready to help us soar and to open up our hearts at the same time, this simple line with a curved bottom, an upside down cane that helps us walk in a new way into this forest of language, where all the letters are beginning to speak, finding each other in just the right combination to be understood.

POETRY EVENTS - NEW YORK CITY

Poetry Events for January and February Mark Strand (1934-2014) (photo © Timothy Greenfield-Sanders) Sunday January 18, 5:00pm Mark Strand Memorial U.S. Poets Laureate Charles Simic and Charles Wright, actor Mary Louise Parker, painterWilliam H. Bailey, composer and pianist John Musto, playwright John Guarre, novelistFrancine Prose, family members, and others pay tribute to the late poet Mark Strand (1934-2014). Admission: Free Location: American Academy of Arts and Letters (entrance at 632 West 156th Street) Wednesday January 21, 6:00pm Language Matters with Bob Holman: a film by David Grubin There are over 6000 languages in the whole world. We lose one every two weeks. Hundreds will be lost within the next generation. By the end of this century, half of the world’s languages will have vanished. What do we lose when a language dies? What does it take to save a language? Join us to honor the new PBS documentary Language Matters with Bob Holman: a film by David Grubin with excerpts from the film woven together with live performances by endangered language speakers, including Native American poets, a hālau hula (Hawaiian school of dance), and presentations on the colorful legacy of Yiddish and the tongue twisting poetry of the Welsh language, followed by a Q & A with Bob Holman and David Grubin and a reception. Admission: Free Location: National Museum of the American Indian 1 Bowling Green Language Matters with Bob Holman airs on PBS THIRTEEN on Sunday, January 25 at 12:30pm. For more information on events and airdates visit www.languagemattersfilm.com Vijay Seshadri Saturday February 7, 3:00pm Transgenres with Vijay Seshadri Why do so many poets also write prose nonfiction? What transformations occur between poem and essay? Pulitzer Prizewinner Vijay Seshadri, whose newest book is 3 Sections, discusses notions of identity, form, and fulfillment for contemporary writers. Part of Other Impulses: Poets Writing Across Genres. Admission: $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House members Location: Poets House 10 River Terrace Get to know Vijay Seshadri in this recent New York Times profile

POETRY EVENTS - OHIO

10th Annual Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest

Posted on January 13, 2015 by Ohio Arts Council

by Katie Swett

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Poetry Out LoudNational Recitation Contest (POL). To celebrate this milestone, the Ohio Arts Council (OAC) is reconnecting with POL alumni who will share their experiences at the 2015 Ohio POL State Finals. Never heard of Poetry Out Loud? The exciting new video, “10 Years of Poetry Out Loud!,” is a great introduction to the program.

POL school champions will compete for cash prizes and a trip to participate in the national finals in Washington, D.C., on April 27-29, 2015. The national winner is awarded $20,000. The 2014 OhioPOL state champion, Lake Wilburn of Columbus, came in second at the national finals last April and won a $10,000 prize.

Last year, more than 8,000 students from 50 schools around Ohio participated in POL. Ohio’s POL program has grown steadily as teachers and students discover the joys of memorizing and reciting poetry while enhancing students’ public speaking skills and cultivating self-confidence.

There’s still time to join more than 55 schools who have registered for POL 2015. The OAC offers teacher training, student coaching, and the services of a project coordinator who works to support POL participants and organize the state contest. Teachers who register online will also receive a free comprehensive toolkit containing all the materials needed to implement the program. Registered schools, including 19 new to the program, have already begun school contests to choose their 2015 champions; get yours started today!

For more Poetry Out Loud information, teaching materials, or assistance with registration, contact Ohio‘s POL project coordinator Katie Swett by telephone at 614/728-4481 or by email. Visit the Ohio Poetry Out Loud website here.

Upcoming POL Events

February 16, 2015
Deadline to submit school champion names and their three poems to the OAC.

February 21, 2015, 1:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.School Champion Workshop

Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts
Riffe Gallery
77 South High Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215

At the workshop, students will discuss interpretations of their chosen poems, practice recitation, and receive feedback. Experienced Poetry Out Loud judge and Columbus-area poet Nancy Kangas will lead the workshop, along with OAC POL staff.

March 7, 2015, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.Ohio POL State Finals

Lincoln Theatre
769 East Long Street
Columbus, Ohio 43203

Poetry Out Loud is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. Across the country, state arts agencies work with high school teachers to promote and implement the program. The Ohioana Library Association, Thurber House, the Ohio Center for the Book in Cleveland, and Tuesday Musical Association assist the OAC in presenting POL in Ohio.

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POETRY EVENTS - CHICAGO RESIDENTS

 

Tuesday, January 20, 7:00PM

The Open Door Readings: January

The Open Door series presents work from Chicago’s new and emerging poets and highlights the area’s outstanding writing programs. Each hour-long event features readings by two area writing program...

Wednesday, January 21, 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.

A POEM FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

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American Life in Poetry: Column 504

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE

 

I love poems with sudden surprises, and here’s one by Jennifer Gray, a Nebraskan. Will you ever see depressions puddled with rain without thinking of the image at her conclusion? Horses  The neighbor’s horses idle under the roof of their three-sided shelter, looking out at the rain. Sometimes one or another will fade into the shadows in the corner, maybe to eat, or drink. Still, the others stand, blowing out their warm breaths. Rain rattles on the metal roof. Their hoof prints in the corral open gray eyes to the sky, and wink each time another drop falls in.

BIRTH OF A POET

Claudia Emerson was born on this day in 1957, in Chatham. Virginia. 

She was a poet, and Professor of English, who has won many awards and honors throughout her distinguished career.

She has taught at several colleges as an English professor, and has been an Editor at more than a few  publications.

During that time she has published five poetry collections, and her poems have appeared in numerous anthologies.

In 2006 she received the Pulitzer Prize for poetry for her collection of poems,  "Late Wife."

In 2008, she was appointed Poet Laureate of the state of Virginia, where she served until 2010.

In 2013 to joined the creative writing staff at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she taught until her death last year on December 4th, a little over a month ago.

During the early part of her life, she graduated from  Chatham Preparatory School in 1975, went on to the University of Virginia, where she received a BA in English in 1979 and in 1991, she earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Her sixth collection of poetry, "The Opposite House," is scheduled to be published later this year in March 2015.

To read the details of her short, but outstanding career Google -search her name

BIRTH OF A POET

CARL AUGUST SANDBURG was born on this day in 1878 in Galesburg. Illinois. He was  an American poet and writer.

Sandburg was the recipient of three Pulitzer prizes. One for history, and two for poetry.

In 1919 he won the Pulitzer prize for poetry for his collection "Corn Huskers," and in 1951 for his collection "Complete Poems."

In 1940 he won the Pulitzer prize for history for "The War Years," a biography of Abraham Lincoln

Sandburg was probably the first America urban folksinger. He would accompany himself on solo guitar at poetry recitals and lectures long before the folk revivals of the 1940s and 1960s.

Sandburg was also the first white person to be honored by the NAACP. They gave him the Silver Plaque Award. They were honoring him as a "major prophet in the civil rights of our time." 

Sandburg died in 1967

To read about some of the exploits of Carl Sandburg Google-search his name