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Poets in the News |
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| 2002 Archive |
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“U.S. WRITERS do cultural battle around the globe”
from The New York Times via the University of Missouri School of Journalism’s Freedom of Information Center
12.8.2002
“The Bush administration has recruited prominent American writers to contribute to a State Department anthology and give readings around the globe in a campaign started after 9/11 to use culture to further American diplomatic interests.” Strangely, this collection of essays on what it means to be an American writer is not available in print inside the U.S., because it is intended for foreign audiences and might be supposed to be propaganda -- but you can read the essays on the Web at the State Department’s International Information Programs site. Among them are Billy Collins on “What’s American about American poetry?,” Robert Creeley on “America’s American,” Robert Pinsky on “A Provincial Sense of Time” and Naomi Shihab Nye on “This Crutch That I Love.”
LATE DEVELOPMENT IN THE SAGA OF QUINCY TROUPE (see item below dated 10.21.2002):
12.3.2002
“Troupe resigns from UCSD,”, by Daniel Watts, from The UCSD Guardian
BOVINE BARDS compose poetry after art student Nathan Banks paints words on them
from CNN.com Offbeat News
12.2.2002
Originally from AP, this item made newspapers and local television newscasts all over the US. The very next day, JforJames of the NewPoetry List pointed out that in England, “the craze for grazing stanzas” is a project by poet Valerie Laws called “Quantum Sheep.”
RUTH STONE wins the 2002 National Book Award for poetry
from The National Book Foundation
11.21.2002
From the award citation: “In her eighth volume of poetry (In the Next Galaxy, Copper Canyon Press, 2002), Ruth Stone, an octogenarian Vermonter, writes with wise intelligence, resolute passion, and an earned knowledge about how the world really works, drawing inspiration from science, politics, history, and what she has come to know too well about love and loss.” Her other recent books include Second-Hand Coat (Yellow Moon Press, 1987), Who Is the Widow’s Muse? (Yellow Moon Press, 1991), Simplicity (Paris Press, 1995), and Ordinary Words (Paris Press, 1999).
RUTH LILLY gives $100 million endowment to Poetry magazine
from The New York Times
11.19.2002
As Poet Laureate Billy Collins says, “Poetry has always had the reputation as being the poor little match girl of the arts. Well, the poor little match girl just hit the lottery.” Ruth Lilly, heir to the Ely Lilly pharmaceutical fortune, submitted a number of poems to Poetry magazine in the 1970’s and they were all rejected. But she must have appreciated the editorial notes she received in reply to her submissions and the way Poetry magazine editors took care of her first bequests (to endow the Ruth Lilly Prize and fellowships), because she has now given Poetry the largest endowment ever received by any poetry journal. Founded in 1912 and published monthly in the 90 years since, Poetry was at the center of the development of 20th century American poetry, bringing to print T.S. Eliot’s “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” Carl Sandburg’s “Chicago Poems,” Wallace Stevens’s “Sunday Morning,” and “the first important poems of Ezra Pound, Marianne Moore, William Carlos Williams, Robert Frost, and many other then unknown, now classic authors.”
WILLIAM PACKARD, 1933 - 2002
from Linda Lerner, New York Quarterly and The New York Times
11.13.2002
Writing teacher, founder and editor of New York Quarterly, a national journal known for its “craft interviews” as well as the poems it published, William Packard died November 3rd at home in New York City. His publications included writing handbooks like The Poet’s Dictionary: A Handbook of Prosody and Poetic Devices (HarperCollins reprint, 1994) and The Art of Poetry Writing (St. Martin’s Press, 1992), poetry collections now out of print including To Peel an Apple and Voices/I Hear/Voices, a work of nonfiction history, Evangelism in America, From Tents to TV (Paragon House Publishers, 1988), and Saturday Night at San Marcos (iUniverse, 2000), a novel satirizing the world of writing workshops and literary conferences. For those of you in the New York area, Linda Lerner sends word that there’s a memorial for Packard on November 23rd at 7:30 pm at the 92nd Street Y, Buttenwieser Hall, 1395 Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street.
BILLY COLLINS completes his list of poems for the POETRY 180 project
from The Library of Congress Poetry & Literature Center
10.30.2002
This is Poet Laureate Billy Collins’ big project, to bring a poem a day into American high schools. He’s selected poems “intended to be listened to” -- an interesting collection of contemporary work -- and recommends they be read over the PA after morning announcements.
PAPYRUS SCROLLS recycled as mummy wrappings turn out to be the first poetry collection
from National Geographic News
10.28.2002
Dating from the 3rd century BC, the scrolls contain 112 poems by the epigrammatist Posidippus. No one knows where the mummy is now, but the poetry scrolls have been studied at the University of Milan, and published with Italian & English translations.
DANA GIOIA nominated as next NEA Chairman
from the National Endowment for the Arts
10.23.2002
Poet, critic, translator, cultural commentator & former General Foods executive Dana Gioia is best known for Can Poetry Matter? (Graywolf Press, 1992), whose title essay ignited a wide-ranging debate about poetry’s role in contemporary society when it was reprinted in The Atlantic Monthly. Now he’s been named by President Bush to head the NEA -- the first time a poet has been at the helm. To read his work online, use the Dana Gioia links in our library of contemporary poets, or use the links at right to read about his books: Interrogations at Noon (Graywolf Press, 2001), Nosferatu (opera libretto, Graywolf Press, 2001), The Gods of Winter (Graywolf Press, 1991) & Daily Horoscope (Graywolf Press, 1986).
EDWARD HIRSCH named President of the Guggenheim Foundation
from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
9.3.2002
Thanks to JforJames of the NewPoetry List for pointing out that Dana Gioia is not the first poet “seizing the reins of power” in the big American cultural institutions this year.
QUINCY TROUPE resigns his post as California’s first Poet Laureate
from the San Francisco Chronicle
10.21.2002
On June 11, our very first “Poets in the News” item noted Quincy Troupe’s appointment as California Poet Laureate & sent you to read the California Arts Council’s featured interview with him, “Poetic License.” Now, Troupe has admitted misprepresentation on his resume (which claimed he had a degree from Grambling University, where he attended classes but never graduated), and he has resigned the post. To read some of his poems, check the Quincy Troupe links in our library of contemporary poets, or use the links at right to browse his books: Transcircularities: New and Selected Poems (Coffee House Press, 2002), Miles and Me (University of California Press, 2000) & Weather Reports: New and Selected Poems (Writers & Readers, 1996).
AMIRI BARAKA, “New Jersey’s Unrepentant Poet of Indignation”
from The New York Times
9.29.2002
Just one month after Amiri Baraka became the poet laureate of New Jersey, Governor James E. McGreevey asked the writer and political activist to resign because a poem he read at the Geraldine R. Dodge Festival implies that Israel knew about the September 11 attack in advance. The poem in question, “Somebody Blew Up America,” is posted online at his own Web site, together with his October 2nd statement in response to the call for his resignation. To read more of his work online, use the Amiri Baraka links in our library of contemporary poets or use the links at right to browse his books: The Leroi Jones/Amiri Baraka Reader (Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2nd edition, 1999), Transbluesency: The Selected Poetry of Amiri Baraka/Leroi Jones, 1961 - 1995 (Marsilio Publications, 1995) & Wise Why’s Y’s: The Griot’s Tale (Third World Press, 1995).
MORE ON BARAKA & THE BROUHAHA:
10.1.2002
“Pillar of Ire,”, from The New Republic
CHARLES HENRI FORD, 1913 - 2002
from Larry Sawyer at Milk Mag
9.27.2002
From New York comes word that American surrealist poet, editor, filmmaker, photographer, and collage artist Charles Henri Ford has passed away at age 93: see the New York Times obituary. Milk Mag published Ford’s illustrated poem, “An Afternoon with Andre Breton,” and its memorial page is the best place to begin reading about him. You can see samples of his work online by using the links in our library of 20th century poets. If you want to read more, use the links at right to check out his books remaining in print: Water from a Bucket: A Diary 1948 - 1957 (Turtle Point Press, 2001) & Out of the Labyrinth: Selected Poems (City Lights Books, 1991).
BILLY COLLINS’ poem “The Names” read to a joint session of the U.S. Congress in New York City
from The New York Times
9.7.2002
The role of the U.S. Poet Laureate has evolved away from the traditional writing of poems for state occasions, and soon after 9.11.2001, our current Laureate, Billy Collins, commented on the difficulty of immediate response to the events of that day in a poem... but now, one year later, his commemorative poem “The Names” keynotes a joint session of Congress near Ground Zero in New York City. Read his poems online by using the Billy Collins links in our library of contemporary poets, and if you want more, try one of his recent books: Sailing Alone Around the Room (Random House, 2001, paperback edition coming out this month), Nine Horses (Random House, 2002), Questions About Angels (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1999) or Picnic, Lightning (Pitt Poetry Series, 1998).
SHOHDY NAGUIB SURUR jailed in Egypt for publishing his father’s poem on the Net
from Wired News, with thanks to the poets on the Buffalo Poetics List & the NewPoetry List for pointing out the story
8.5.2002
Shohdy Naguib Surur has been sentenced to one year in a Cairo prison for posting a politically incorrect & sexually explicit poem by his father, Naguib Surur, online at Wadada.net. He awaits a hearing on his appeal. You can read a local report on his trial at Al-Ahram Weekly Online (the Web site managed by Shohdy for the English-language Egyptian newspaper).
NORMAN DUBIE wins the 2002 PEN Center West Award for poetry
from the San Francisco Chronicle
8.3.2002
Norman Dubie’s newest collection, The Mercy Seat (2001, Copper Canyon Press), has been called “essential,” “a valuable gift” & “poetry at the top of its form.” He brings the voices & visions of people from the past & the present, historical characters & unknown folks, to poetic life in his work, which is wonderfully detailed & human but never messy. To read more about him, use Norman Dubie links in our library of contemporary poets.
CHRIS BRANCH, 1971 - 2002
from The St. Louis Post Dispatch
7.20.2002
Chris Branch was well known on the local spoken word/hiphop scene in St. Louis, and we were sorry to learn that he took his own life at age 31 on July 3. You can listen to him on the “Gateway Allstars Freestyle” cuts at b-dope’s mp3.com page.
ECE AYHAN, 1931 - 2002
from Murat Nemet-Nejat on the Buffalo Poetics List, with thanks to Ak & Poem of the Day
7.16.2002
Turkish poet, civil servant, translator & master of the untranslateable Ece Ayhan died July 19th. His 1997 collection from Sun and Moon, A Blind Cat Black and Orthodoxies (translated from the Turkish by Murat Nemet-Nejat), was one of the first listings when we began our Poetry Bookstore -- it’s an amazing book, now out of print, so you must search for it used. You can read a few of his poems online by using the link in our library of contemporary poets.
KENNETH KOCH, 1925 - 2002
from The New York Times
7.7.2002
Witty, wide-ranging poet, founding member of the New York School, beloved & inspiring teacher, Kenneth Koch’s life was ended by leukemia on July 6th. His latest collection, New Addresses (Knopf, 2001), is one of our Top Picks of recently published poetry books, & we think every poet should have a copy of his handbook, Making Your Own Days: The Pleasures of Reading and Writing Poetry (Simon & Schuster, 1998). Read his poems online by using the Kenneth Koch links in our library of contemporary poets. For more about him, see the tributes assembled in last year’s Jacket Magazine #15.
PHILIP WHALEN, 1923 - 2002
from Jack Magazine’s Beat News
6.26.2002
Philip Whalen, “the high priest of Zen Buddhism for the Beat Generation” (according to Michael Rothenberg), died on June 26th after a long illness. To read Whalen’s poems & what others say about his work, browse the Philip Whalen links in our library of 20th century poets. (Although he lived into the beginning of the 21st century, we have included his listings in the last century because all of his poetry & publications happened then.) A Zen Buddhist memorial service will be held at Green Gulch Farms and Zen Center north of San Francisco on September 1 -- keep an eye on Big Bridge for information.
RUSSELL SIMMONS premieres Def Poetry Jam in San Francisco
from the San Francisco Chronicle
6.19.2002
Hip hop producer Simmons has been traveling the US to put together this live show, which opened in mid-June in San Francisco. Check out Def Poetry Jam at the Web site. For more on hip hop, rap & poetry, read our interview with Eman, 17-year-old New York wonder poet.
PAT PAYNE wins the World Heavyweight Championship Poetry Bout
from Anne MacNaughton
6.17.2002
Underdog Pat Payne is only the 3rd woman to reign as world heavyweight champion in the 21 years of the Taos Poetry Circus.
JUNE JORDAN, 1936 - 2002
from the San Francisco Chronicle
6.15.2002
Founder of Poetry 4 the People, beloved teacher and eloquent poet, June Jordan died of breast cancer on June 15th and leaves a void in the world. Several of her “Poems to Rebuild Kosovo” were featured here at About Poetry in 1999. To read more of her work, browse the links collected at the end of that feature, & don’t forget to check the June Jordan links in our library of contemporary poets.
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