Poetry Coming To Woody Guthrie Fest
Wednesday June 15, 2005
from George Wallace of Poetrybay:
“NY, OK poets to join with musicians at annual Woody Guthrie Folk Festival”
For the first time this year, American poets will help celebrate the life and times of one of the nation’s greatest 20th century folk music artists at a festival held in his own hometown, when they join with musicians and performers to recite works by and about Woody Guthrie in Okemah, Oklahoma.
Led by New York poet George Wallace and Oklahoma’s Carol Hamilton, a multi-state gathering of poets will read during a midday performance on Saturday, July 16, the culminating day of a week of Guthrie celebration. The two-hour performance, which will be held from 1-3 pm at the Okemah Historical Society, next to the main theater in town, includes poets from Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri and New York.
Wallace, who conceived the collaboration, says he was inspired by a visit with Hamilton to the festival in 2003, where he was exposed to a number of lyrics not previously set to music by Guthrie -- works written while the folk musician was living in Coney Island, NY. “I had always thought of Guthrie as a singer-songwriter,” he says. “But when I learned that Woody had written a lot of material that was never set to music, I realized that there was something in the man’s muse that came directly from the play of words and ideas.” He quickly discovered that Guthrie had “a wonderful talent for poetic tension and the fast-forward prosody so many people admire in the Beat writers. I’d known and loved Woody’s lyrics since I was a young man,” said Wallace, “but this led me to re-read his writings as poetry.” Hamilton agreed: “I have long thought Guthrie spoke and wrote poetry, his distinct voice coming through in all he did.”
Related resources:
“Woody Guthrie tells you what kind of poems to write”
Links & articles on live poetry events
Read on for more details on the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival & the poets appearing there...
Wallace says the idea of bringing poetry to Okemah lay dormant in his mind until this year, when he learned that his friend and musical collaborator David Amram was working on a composition based on a theme by Guthrie. “David and I have worked together on a number of occasions, and it just seemed like a natural for him to appear at Okemah.”
Festival organizers agreed -- Amram is scheduled to perform at the Guthrie Festival this year. After Wallace enlisted the aid of Hamilton, a former Oklahoma Poet Laureate with whom he had performed in 2003, Okemah festival organizers agreed to create a space for poetry, too. “We welcome this important and over-due addition to the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival,” said Bill McCloud, the festival's concert producer. “And we appreciate George’s efforts in bringing it all together.”
“I think it’s a wonderful fit,” says Wallace. “Woody Guthrie exemplifies so much that a lot of us admire in a writer -- his ability to make language dance, his crafting of easy casualness with high philosophy, his clarity, his capacity to entertain and educate us with words rich in character and personality.” And there’s something else, adds Wallace. “Woody’s not just a social critic, but he’s a real champion of the common man. It’s a literary and philosophic point of view that he shares with great American writers of the 19th and 20th century, from Whitman to Hemingway and from Steinbeck to Frost. It sure doesn’t hurt in this day and age for all of us to revisit the positive spirit and simple hopefulness of the man’s art.”
In all, 21 poets are set to appear at the event, including Wallace, Hamilton and Francine Ringold, current Poet Laureate of Oklahoma and editor of Nimrod International Journal. They include: Manly Johnson, Poetry Editor of Nimrod, Tulsa; Aiden Poole, poet and teacher at Classen Arts and Science Honors High School, Oklahoma City; Michael Angellotti, poet and professor of English at the University of Oklahoma, Norman; Alvin O. Turner, poet and Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences at East Central University, Ada; Jim Spurr, poet, Shawnee; Gordon Greene, writer, poet, and storyteller of Midwest City; Norma Wilson, poet and Professor Emeritus at the University of South Dakota; Dr. Nathan Brown of Norman, poet and Artist-in-Residence, Fall, 2005, at the University of Central Oklahoma; Dr. Larry Griffin, poet and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Three Rivers Community College, Poplar Bluff, Missouri; Robert Ferrier, writer and retired research administrator at University of Oklahoma, Norman; Tom D. Webb, poet, Edmond; Jane Taylor, poet and research librarian at the University of Central Oklahoma; Sarah Webb, Poetry Editor of Crosstimbers of Chickasha and Burnit, Texas; Dorothy Alexander, editor of Broomweed Review and director of the women’s and writers’ retreat center, Cheyenne; Dr. Richard Rouillar, poet and professor of English, Oklahoma City Community College; Carl Sennhenn, Norman, former Poet Laureate of Oklahoma and professor of English, Rose State College; Dr. Terry Britton, Norman, poet and Vice President at Rose State College; and Richard Dixon, poet, Norman.
“We are delighted to have drawn such a wide array of talent to share original works and also readings from Guthrie’s spoken words,” says Hamilton. “We look forward to a true celebration of our land, of Guthrie and his loves, and of our art.”
“NY, OK poets to join with musicians at annual Woody Guthrie Folk Festival”
For the first time this year, American poets will help celebrate the life and times of one of the nation’s greatest 20th century folk music artists at a festival held in his own hometown, when they join with musicians and performers to recite works by and about Woody Guthrie in Okemah, Oklahoma.
Led by New York poet George Wallace and Oklahoma’s Carol Hamilton, a multi-state gathering of poets will read during a midday performance on Saturday, July 16, the culminating day of a week of Guthrie celebration. The two-hour performance, which will be held from 1-3 pm at the Okemah Historical Society, next to the main theater in town, includes poets from Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri and New York.
Wallace, who conceived the collaboration, says he was inspired by a visit with Hamilton to the festival in 2003, where he was exposed to a number of lyrics not previously set to music by Guthrie -- works written while the folk musician was living in Coney Island, NY. “I had always thought of Guthrie as a singer-songwriter,” he says. “But when I learned that Woody had written a lot of material that was never set to music, I realized that there was something in the man’s muse that came directly from the play of words and ideas.” He quickly discovered that Guthrie had “a wonderful talent for poetic tension and the fast-forward prosody so many people admire in the Beat writers. I’d known and loved Woody’s lyrics since I was a young man,” said Wallace, “but this led me to re-read his writings as poetry.” Hamilton agreed: “I have long thought Guthrie spoke and wrote poetry, his distinct voice coming through in all he did.”
Related resources:
“Woody Guthrie tells you what kind of poems to write”
Links & articles on live poetry events
Read on for more details on the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival & the poets appearing there...
Wallace says the idea of bringing poetry to Okemah lay dormant in his mind until this year, when he learned that his friend and musical collaborator David Amram was working on a composition based on a theme by Guthrie. “David and I have worked together on a number of occasions, and it just seemed like a natural for him to appear at Okemah.”
Festival organizers agreed -- Amram is scheduled to perform at the Guthrie Festival this year. After Wallace enlisted the aid of Hamilton, a former Oklahoma Poet Laureate with whom he had performed in 2003, Okemah festival organizers agreed to create a space for poetry, too. “We welcome this important and over-due addition to the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival,” said Bill McCloud, the festival's concert producer. “And we appreciate George’s efforts in bringing it all together.”
“I think it’s a wonderful fit,” says Wallace. “Woody Guthrie exemplifies so much that a lot of us admire in a writer -- his ability to make language dance, his crafting of easy casualness with high philosophy, his clarity, his capacity to entertain and educate us with words rich in character and personality.” And there’s something else, adds Wallace. “Woody’s not just a social critic, but he’s a real champion of the common man. It’s a literary and philosophic point of view that he shares with great American writers of the 19th and 20th century, from Whitman to Hemingway and from Steinbeck to Frost. It sure doesn’t hurt in this day and age for all of us to revisit the positive spirit and simple hopefulness of the man’s art.”
In all, 21 poets are set to appear at the event, including Wallace, Hamilton and Francine Ringold, current Poet Laureate of Oklahoma and editor of Nimrod International Journal. They include: Manly Johnson, Poetry Editor of Nimrod, Tulsa; Aiden Poole, poet and teacher at Classen Arts and Science Honors High School, Oklahoma City; Michael Angellotti, poet and professor of English at the University of Oklahoma, Norman; Alvin O. Turner, poet and Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences at East Central University, Ada; Jim Spurr, poet, Shawnee; Gordon Greene, writer, poet, and storyteller of Midwest City; Norma Wilson, poet and Professor Emeritus at the University of South Dakota; Dr. Nathan Brown of Norman, poet and Artist-in-Residence, Fall, 2005, at the University of Central Oklahoma; Dr. Larry Griffin, poet and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Three Rivers Community College, Poplar Bluff, Missouri; Robert Ferrier, writer and retired research administrator at University of Oklahoma, Norman; Tom D. Webb, poet, Edmond; Jane Taylor, poet and research librarian at the University of Central Oklahoma; Sarah Webb, Poetry Editor of Crosstimbers of Chickasha and Burnit, Texas; Dorothy Alexander, editor of Broomweed Review and director of the women’s and writers’ retreat center, Cheyenne; Dr. Richard Rouillar, poet and professor of English, Oklahoma City Community College; Carl Sennhenn, Norman, former Poet Laureate of Oklahoma and professor of English, Rose State College; Dr. Terry Britton, Norman, poet and Vice President at Rose State College; and Richard Dixon, poet, Norman.
“We are delighted to have drawn such a wide array of talent to share original works and also readings from Guthrie’s spoken words,” says Hamilton. “We look forward to a true celebration of our land, of Guthrie and his loves, and of our art.”
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