Poetry In Motion -- Wave Of Literary Events To Flood Nation In Second Installment Of Poetry Month
We live in an era of sequels - the inevitable "Speed 2" and "Home Alone 3" are in the works - so it's not surprising that poetry's biggest splash in recent memory is being reprised.
April will be the second National Poetry Month, a yearly observance dreamed up by the Academy of American Poets and given energetic promotion last year. By all accounts it was a great success last year: Bookstores reported that poetry sales increased 25 percent to 35 percent, libraries saw more check-outs of poetry books and teachers across the country made greater use of poetry in the classroom.
The Seattle area was among the most active nationwide in support of National Poetry Month, with about 25 readings, lectures and discussions. The regional effort was spearheaded by the Literary Arts Alliance, a young coalition of some two dozen nonprofit literary organizations from around Puget Sound.
This year, the ambition and the numbers have grown. "We've taken it to another level of interest," says Tom Bevan, the National Poetry Month coordinator at the Academy of American Poets. "We sent out about 5,000 poetry-month posters last year; this year, we've sent out about 180,000."
Bevan noted that this year's observance is supported by the American Booksellers Association, the American Library Association and the National Council of Teachers of English - all of whom agreed to distribute posters through their regular publications.
He added that periodicals such as The Nation, The New Yorker and the New York Review of Books are donating advertising space.
A formerly low-profile support organization best known for relatively obscure poetry prizes such as the Walt Whitman Award and the Raiziss/de Palchi Translation Award, the Academy of American Poets also has staked a claim in cyberspace: Its Web site (http://www.poets.org) features hundreds of poems, photographs, biographies and - for sound-equipped computers - recordings of poets reading their work.
In addition, the academy is joining America Online's "Book Report" to sponsor online chats with the likes of U.S. poet laureate Robert Hass and one of his predecessors, Rita Dove.
The academy's most media-savvy strategy, however, is its joint effort with the Harcourt Brace publishing house and the American Poetry and Literacy Project. On April 15 - the day federal income taxes are due - they will distribute in seven cities (not Seattle) thousands of copies of the publisher's 75th anniversary edition of T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land," that harbinger of 20th-century modernism that begins: "April is the cruellest month . . ."
While last-minute taxpayers are dropping off their returns, the $4 paperback will be handed out free in post offices in Boston, New York, San Francisco, Denver, Miami, Chicago and Washington, D.C. Bevan unapologetically explains: "It's an attempt to get poetry in front of the television cameras."
On the Seattle scene, the expansion of National Poetry Month is equally dramatic: the number of events has doubled, to some 50 scheduled programs, ranging from readings and lectures to open mikes, competitive poetry "slams" and workshops.
But perhaps the most imaginative project is the "Poetry Minutes" radio series, which will feature 22 Seattle-area teenagers reading their verse in radio spots aired twice daily on KUOW-FM, 94.9. Throughout April, "Poetry Minutes" will be broadcast at 10:55 a.m., Monday through Friday, during KUOW's "Weekday" and repeated at 7:59 p.m. during the evening rebroadcast.
The young participants this year were selected from a number of local programs, including Seattle Arts & Lectures' Writers in the Schools project, Centrum's Experiences in Creativity, the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference's high-school contest, and various poetry projects that operate through the Broadview Homeless Shelter, King County Juvenile Detention, the Ruth Dykeman Children's Center and the Neutral Zone in Mountlake Terrace.
"For many of these young people, writing poetry means finding and expressing a purpose. They begin by taking responsibility for what they say, becoming better able to take control of their lives," says Lou Oma Durand of Space for Stories, a radio-production company that brings literary works to Seattle airwaves.
"(These young poets) take care of themselves and others through the creative act of poetry rather than remaining passive, powerless recipients of media distractions or more destructive alternatives."
Despite this April push for poetry, voices have been raised in disagreement. Given that writing poetry is an intensely personal, private creative act, it's ironic that the most public complaint has come from a much-honored poet himself.
"I have never before known so well why April was declared by a poet to be the cruelest month," Pulitzer Prize-winner Richard Howard told the PEN Literary Awards ceremony last year - remarks reproduced in the current edition of Harper's.
"(W)e have ghettoized a millenial human expression," declared Howard. "(W)e have limited it to a temporal interval after which it need not trouble us for another eleven months, and we have finally avowed its insignificance in the clearest fashion we possess: we have declared poetry to be a National and a Monthly commodity."
Howard's solution? Make poetry "once again, a secret."
None of which is music to the ears of the Academy of American Poets. While acknowledging that last year's success had made his task a bit easier this year, Bevan, the poetry-month coordinator, adopted an air of wry resignation toward Howard's curmudgeonly sentiments.
"None of us want to see poetry limited to April," he said, "but our hope is that if we blanket the world in April, when the blanket is lifted, some of the fibers will be left."
A more pragmatic view is expressed by John Marshall, the owner of one of the few bookstores in the nation devoted entirely to poetry, Seattle's Open Books: A Poetry Emporium. Last April and May, said Marshall, the store's sales matched the previous Christmas-season rush.
"We know National Poetry Month is commercially driven," he added. "But if people pick up a book, find a poem they like, and it leads to other poems - well, we don't care how they get there."
------------------------ WHERE TO CATCH THE POETS ------------------------
National Poetry Month features a wide range of poetry-related events in the Seattle area. Here is a schedule of April's offerings:
April 1
Judith Skillman reads from "Beethoven and the Birds," followed by an open mike. Gene's Ristorante, 212 S. Third St., Renton, 7 p.m. (241-2163).
April 2
Wild Card Slam, poetry contest. OK Hotel, 212 Alaskan Way S., 8 p.m., ($3; 621-7903).
April 3
White Pine Press Signature Editions, a showing of 12 print collaborations between poets and artists, on display until May 15. Wessel & Lieberman Booksellers, 121 First Ave. S., 6 p.m. (682-3545).
Poetry: Out Loud and Proud: group reading by Not Ready for Reality, Beyond the Closet Bookstore, 518 E. Pike St., 7 p.m. (322-4609).
Teach Me: Poets Who Teach Poetry, readings by faculty from area schools and colleges. Frye Art Museum, 704 Terry Ave., 7:30 p.m. (622-9250).
April 5
Words from the Heat: creative writing workshop and poetry reading for young adults. Seattle Downtown Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., 1 p.m. (386-4636).
Peter Munro and Diane Westergaard read; open mike. Broadview Branch Library, 12755 Greenwood Ave. N., 3 p.m. (684-7519).
Matthew Rohrer reads from his poetry. Elliott Bay Books, 101 S. Main St., 8 p.m. (624-6600).
April 6
Agha Shahid Ali, Kashmir-born poet, speaks on the ghazal, an eighth-century Arabic poetic form. Open Books: A Poem Emporium, 2414 N. 45th St., 7 p.m. (633-0811).
Marion Kimes, followed by an open mike. Red Sky Poetry Theater, The Globe Cafe, 1531 14th Ave., 7 p.m. (323-3749).
April 9
Carol Jane Bangs, Paul Hunter and Judith Roche. Seattle Downtown Library, 7 p.m. (386-4636).
The Seattle Slam featuring Hamish Todd, open mike. OK Hotel, 212 Alaskan Way S., 8 p.m. ($3).
April 10
Jody Aliesan reads from two manuscripts, "Loving in Time of War" and "When the Guest is Cruel." Henry Branch Library, 425 Harvard Ave. E., 7 p.m. (684-4715).
It's About Time Writers Reading Series with Irene Drennan, Jean Heinle, Bruce Taylor and Mary Willix. University Branch Library, 5009 Roosevelt Way N.E., 7 p.m. (684-4063).
Denise Levertov reads from her poetry. Frye Art Museum, 7:30 p.m.
Poetry: Out Loud and Proud: group reading by No Safe Word. Beyond the Closet Bookstore, 7 p.m.
Annie Hansen, Sharon Hashimoto and John Willson present "The Girl Who Always Thought It Was Summer," a poetry reading. Eagle Harbor Books, Bainbridge Island, 7:30 p.m. (842-5332).
April 12
Poetry Circle, with Ji Hong, Amy Hosig, Marion Kimes, Katalin Melegh, Francia Recalde, Jean Nicole Jackson and Armando Martinez. Douglass-Truth Branch Library, 2300 E. Yesler, 3:30 p.m. (328-1676).
April 13
Seattle Slam, open mike poetry contest. Red Sky Poetry Theater, The Globe Cafe, 7 p.m.
April 15
Open Mike Poetry Reading, Mercer Island Starbucks, 7814 E. 28th, 7:30 p.m. (236-3545).
April 16
Victoria Ford and David Horowitz. University Book Store/Seattle, 4326 University Way N.E., 7 p.m. (634-3400).
Seattle Love of Life Poets: Crysta Casey and Esther Helfgott read from their work. 7 p.m., Barnes & Noble/University Village, 7 p.m. (517-4107).
The Seattle Slam features Kelly Hartl and an open mike. OK Hotel, 212 Alaskan Way S., 8 p.m. ($3).
April 17
Poetry Circle, with Larry Laurence, Tiffany Midge, Deborah Miranda, and poets and translators from "The Poem & the World," HUB Student Union, Room 309, University of Washington, 3:30 p.m. (328-1676).
Poetry Circus Benefit: participants in "Poetry Circus: A Festival of the Spoken Word" preview their work. Open Books: A Poem Emporium, 7 p.m.
A. Alvarez, author of "The Savage God: A Study of Suicide," talks about poet Sylvia Plath. Seattle Downtown Library, 7 p.m.
Cal Kinnear, Linda Malnack, Lynn Miller and Gary Winans read, followed by an open mike. Southwest Branch Library, 9010 35th Ave. S.W., 7 p.m. (684-7455).
Poetry: Out Loud and Proud: group reading by Local Heroes. Beyond the Closet Bookstore, 7 p.m.
Sound Poetry: reading by poets from the Puget Sound region. Frye Art Museum, 7:30 p.m.
Sam Hamill, Emily Warn and Bill O'Daly read from "The Gift of Tongues: 25 Years of Poetry from Copper Canyon Press." Eagle Harbor Books, 7:30 p.m.
Myung Mi Kim and Danika Dinsmore. Speakeasy Cafe, 2304 Second Ave., 7:30 p.m. (728-9770).
April 18
George Wolfe, Noel Franklin, Joan Fiset, Kate Mill, Paul Hunter and host/curator Rebecca Brown present "The Shape of the Poem," followed by a reception. Jack Straw Studios, 4261 Roosevelt Way N.E., 7 p.m. (634-0919).
Edward Hirsch reads from his poetry. Wessel & Lieberman Booksellers, 121 First Ave. S., 7:30 p.m. (682-3545).
April 19
Eulage Anthony and Diane Westergaard, followed by an open mike. Columbia Branch Library, 4721 Rainier Ave. S., call for time (386-1908).
Paula Gunn Allen reads new poetry. Elliott Bay Books, 4 p.m.
April 20
Bertschi School Students: reading by fifth and second graders. Seattle Downtown Library, 3 p.m.
Sweet Immolation: Burning on the Inside group reading. Red Sky Poetry Theater, The Globe Cafe, 7 p.m.
April 21
Glenda Cassutt, Bruce Flemming, Ted McMahon and Lynn Miller present their works. Green Lake Branch Library, 7364 E. Green Lake Drive N., 7 p.m. (684-7547).
Poetry Circle: A celebration of poetry and the spoken word, with Jody Aliesan, Arthur Tulee, Carletta Wilson, and poets and translators from "The Poem & the World," Shafer Auditorium in Lemieux Library, Seattle University, 7 p.m. (328-1676).
April 22
Evening of Poetry with featured readers and an open mike. Fremont Library, 731 N. 35th St., 6:45 p.m. (684-4084).
Annie Hansen, Sharon Hashimoto and John Willson present "The Girl Who Always Thought It Was Summer," a poetry reading. Seattle Downtown Library, 7 p.m.
Robin Seyfried, editor of Poetry Northwest, and poet David Wagoner discuss contemporary Northwest poets and poetry. M Coy Books and Espresso, 117 Pine St., 7 p.m. ($5; 623-5354).
April 23
The Seattle Slam, open mike with featured poet Juliette Torrez, curator of Albuquerque Poetry Festival. OK Hotel, 212 Alaskan Way S., 8 p.m. ($3).
April 24
Madeline DeFrees and Tim McNulty read from "The Gift of Tongues: 25 Years of Poetry from Copper Canyon Press." Open Books: A Poem Emporium, 7 p.m.
Student Poets, reading by students from Seattle Public School. Frye Art Museum, 7 p.m.
Poetry: Out Loud and Proud: open-mike reading. Beyond the Closet Bookstore, 7 p.m.
Jeanne Yeasting, Colleen Dunne and Quana Bice present a group reading. Smith 211, University of Washington, 7:30 p.m.
April 26
Diana O'Hehir, Irish poet, reads from her collection. Elliott Bay Books, 7:30 p.m.
Joint reading by Louis Dovell, Teresa Bachman, Phoebe Bosche, Christine Runyan, Martha Linehan, Paula Friedrich and Marion Kimes. New City Theater, 1634 11th Ave., 8 p.m. (323-3749).
April 27
Salon Productions, a group reading. Red Sky Poetry Theater, The Globe Cafe, 7 p.m.
Poetry Night with local poets Jody Aliesan, Claudia Mauro, Mira Shimabukuro and Beth Coyote, Red & Black Books, 432 15th Ave. E., 7 p.m. (322-7323).
April 28
Margaret Dyment, Neile Graham, James Gurley and Heather Spears read from their work. Green Lake Branch Library, 7 p.m.
April 29
Ralph Angel, winner of 1995 James Laughlin Award, reads from his work. Open Books: A Poem Emporium, 7 p.m.
Betsy Aoki, Lauri Conner, Jourdan Keith, Kimball MacKay-Brook and Laura McKee present a group reading. Seattle Downtown Library, 7 p.m.
April 30
Open Mike Night: The public reads its favorite poems. North East Branch Library, 6801 35th Ave. N.E., 7 p.m. (684-7539).
Poetry Read Aloud: readings by local authors and library staff. Seattle Downtown Library, noon.
The Seattle Slam: The annual Grand Slam includes Bart Baxter, Ritah Parrish and Troy Mink. OK Hotel, 212 Alaskan Way S., 8 p.m. ($3).
May 1
Seattle Arts & Lectures presents Irish poets Eilean Ni Chuilleanain and Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill, 7:30 p.m., Broadway Performance Hall, 1625 Broadway, 7:30 p.m. ($10; 621-2230).