4-13-05
Penn State Behrend Celebrates National Poetry Month
"It is difficult/ to get the news from poems/ yet men die miserably everyday/ for lack/ of what is found there," wrote William Carlos William, a great American poet of the 20th century. In a culture of small things (pursuit of material possessions, adoration of celebrity and fame, destruction caused by unchecked competition, and technologically-induced apathy), art enlarges our lives. A good poem is an experience that requires the reader's active participation, unlike television. It doesn't require winners or losers to succeed, unlike business. Instead, it asks us, in the spirit of Socrates, to examine our lives, to open our minds to a new perspective; poetry offers us a world of renewed awareness.
Unfortunately the teaching of poetry has been largely limited to a few staple poems in high school English classes (most likely Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken," his two roads diverging forever into the distance, or Poe's rhythmically enthralling "The Raven," or perhaps a Shakespearean sonnet or two). In 1996, the Academy of American Poets created National Poetry Month in order to bring the wisdom of poetry to as many people as possible. To honor the tenth year of this program, the Academy has planned the largest celebration ever, beginning April 1 with a sponsored reading in Vancouver, Canada, and highlighted by a star-studded gala in New York City, called "Poetry and the Creative Mind." Throughout the month, universities and literary organizations will host readings across the country, including the Academy's "Ten Years/Ten Cities" series, featuring the likes of Mark Doty, Maxine Kumin, Stephen Dobyns, and Jorie Graham, among other contemporary poets.
For the creative writing faculty and their students at Penn State Behrend, every month is poetry month. George Looney serves as program chair of Behrend's new B.F.A Creative Writing Program, and his collection, The Precarious Rhetoric of Angels, is forthcoming from White Pine Press in Fall 2005. For Looney, spring is a logical time for such an event because, as he puts it, "great poetry rejuvenates the soul, which is allowed to 'blossom' again through paying attention to poetry in the month of April."
"Most people in this culture think poetry has no connection to their lives, that it's too ephemeral, too abstract," said Looney. "In my mind, poetry is all about our lives. It allows us to re-examine and re-understand our lives. It's the oldest and most intimate form of human expression."
To celebrate National Poetry Month, students and faculty from the B.F.A. program trekked across the country, to Vancouver, British Columbia, for the annual Associate Writers and Writers Program Conference. While there, the group sold copies of Lake Effect, Behrend's literary journal, attended readings and panels, and joined others who share the same passion for literature. On Thursday, April 14, Poet Tim Seibles, author of six collections of poetry, will read from his work starting at 6:00 p.m. in the Smith Chapel. The public is enthusiastically invited to attend.
Sean Thomas Dougherty adds his voice to the poetic scene at Behrend. His seventh book, Your Voice After Desnos, was recently accepted for publication by the prestigious Pultizer-Prize winning press, Boa Editions. The book, featuring love poems in Dougherty's own innovative form, the Oberek, engages his Hungarian ancestors, especially his great-grandmother. For Dougherty, poetry forms a dichotomous relationship with the evils of the world. "Poetry doesn't shoot children, fly airplanes into buildings, or drop smart bombs on innocent civilians. Poetry is the language of humanity, complexity, and seeing the individual as a person."
The goal of National Poetry Month and the program at Penn State Behrend is to create readers of poetry that take advantage of the art's many riches. At www.poets.org, the Academy outlines ways in which communities can get involved in the celebration. Visitors can even order a free National Poetry Month poster, featuring the white dress of Emily Dickinson. The Web site also makes the works of more than five hundred American poets readily accessible to all. With the internet, works by many of the country's greatest writers are only a mouse click away.
For lovers of poetry, poems offer a panacea for that which ails and limits our spirits. "Poetry," said Dougherty, "asks more questions than gives answers. In a time of war and intolerance, poetry is the opposite of barbed wire."
For more information about the B.F.A. program at Penn State Behrend, contact the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at 814-898-6104.