I'm especially fond of AWP these days because they took such care with the interview I conducted with the incomparable Lucille Clifton. It is the cover story of the current issue of the Writer's Chronicle (pictured below) and the article contains a wonderful selection of Ms. Lucille's poems as well.
To kick off Black History Month (and send up more 'celebration' for Ms. Lucille), another poet is putting Youtube to use as well. Don't miss a day of Ayodele Heath's performance project 28 Days of Poetry: Poets Make Black History.
A few years ago, when I had a poem published in Essence, a poet and friend Jarvis Deberry wrote me a note that said, "The only thing better would be the JET!" Now, I don't have a poem in the most recent issue of JETmagazine (pictured below), but Nikki Giovanni did mention me by name in her article about the importance of black poetry! My Nana is going to be so proud...especially after I send her 10 copies of the issue :-) Make sure you pick it up too!
I was working on another post when I got the news that a fierce poet and good friend, Demetrice Worley, may have a delay in the release of her debut book, Tongues in My Mouth. Do yourself a favor in the New Year and pre-order a copy today! Check out the details from the poetess herself:
My book publisher has informed me that because of slow advance orders for my poetry book, he will be forced to move back the publication date for my book by several months UNLESS advance orders are received within the first two weeks of January 2011. Advance copies of Tongues in My Mouth are only $9 (+2.50 for shipping and handling), and you can order them on-line at the Main Street Rag Bookstore's Coming Soon page. According to Nikki Giovanni, national and international poet, “What an opus Demetrice Anntía Worley has created with Tongues in My Mouth. The stark and beautiful truths she explores are ones we ought to know and begin to view. This book needs to be on every desk. Thank you Demetrice Anntía Worley, for your insight. For your bravery. For your soul stirring. Tongues in My Mouth is an important book.”
More detailed information about my book is available on my Tongues in My Mouth blog and ont my Main Street Rag Author's Page. Without your support, I will not be able to do three book readings in March and April 2011 and the wonderful book launch party I am planning will not occur.
Please order your advance copy today and send me a message letting me know you placed your order. When I receive your message I will send you a Tongues in My Mouth 2011 Calendar. In addition, I will have solid advance book order numbers to show my publisher the interest in my poetry. If you have already ordered a copy, please send me a message and I will send you the Tongues in My Mouth 2011 Calendar, and I will add your order to the number of advance orders placed.
Please share this information with any of your friends that you think might be interested in buying my book. Thank you in advance for your support. Yours in Poetry and Peace, Demetrice Anntia Worley
Hey Hampton Roads, we're bringing the poetry across the water! The PFAC in Newport News is hosting a wonderful art after hours series this season and is featuring the words of four area poets: Shonda Buchanan, Luisa Igloria, Toni Wynn and me. We'd love to see you there! Details are below:
WHAT: PFAC has a special Poetry Night component of Peninsula Fine Arts Center’s Art After 5 this week. Noted poet and author Toni Wynn has organized some tremendous talent to read for us: Shonda Buchanan, Remica L. Bingham, and Luisa Igloria. Come out for some fine poetry, hear great music by Gina Dalmas and the Cow Tippin’ Playboys, enjoy wonderful food by Blackdog Catering, witness artist Brian Murphy at work, see lots of great art, meet new friends, and be part of the Peninsula’s most happening scene!Third Thursdays are free for Art After 5--a live music, poetry, and art happening with refreshments.
WHEN: Thursday, Nov. 18 from 5:30 - 7:30 PM
WHERE: Peninsula Fine Arts Center 101 Museum Drive Newport News, Virginia, 23606 757-596-8175
WHAT: In the tradition of the great intellectual salon experiences, wander the library sampling gourmet delights from Chef Donnie Franklin, talk literature with a variety of writers and poets, and listen to the sounds of Virginia with musician Bill Gurley.
**Share the passion of celebrated New York Times Bestselling Author Mary Alice Monroe as she tells about writing Southern novels highlighting coastal living, fly fishing, love, and family.
**Thrill to USA Best Selling Author David Poyer, as he vividly captures the excitement and drama of the Civil War, military history, and espionage.
The gala evening event is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Chesapeake Public Library and the Chesapeake Public Library Foundation to benefit the Library and celebrate the power of the pen and the creative imagination. Tickets can be purchased in advance at any Chesapeake Library branch for $20.00, which includes the buffet and refreshments, or $25.00 at the door. Block tickets for groups of six or more are available for $15.00 each. For more information and a complete list of the authors visit the library webpage at http://www.infopeake.org/ or call the Library at 757.410.7105.
WHEN: Friday, 11/2, starting at 6:00 PM
WHERE: 298 Cedar Road, Chesapeake, VA
I finally have another reading in Hampton Roads (thanks to Kwame Alexander, writer and organizer extraordinaire) and this time I get to talk about love and loss with fabulous Tidewater poet, Jon Pineda. You get lots of bang for your buck at this one and it will benefit our local libraries. Fun, food, words galore, what more could you ask for! There will be a reception where authors and readers can mingle before the program begins and here's the schedule for the night:
7:30 – 8:15: The Drama Unfolds: Local Novelists Talk about their Writing Lives
Booker T. Mattison Debbiann Holmes Tinesha Davis
7:30 – 8:15: Who Did It? Reading by Local Mystery Novelists
Christy Barritt
Judi McCoy
800 – 8:30: Storytime: ReadingKwame Alexander, author of Indigo Blume and The Garden City, And Then You Know: New & Selected Poems 8:30 – 9:15: Poets and Writers on Love, Loss, and Literature
Jon Pineda Remica Bingham
8:30 – 9:15: The Rest is History: A Talk with Writers
David Poyer Raymond Harper
It should be a wonderful night. I hope to see all the local word-lovers there!
WHAT: Cave Canem Northwestern University Press Poetry Prize Reading
WHEN: Thursday, October 21 · 7:00pm - 8:30pm
WHERE:New York University Lillian Vernon House, 58 West 10th Street New York, NY
WHY: Because Cave Canem and Northwestern University Press joined forces to create a much needed second book prize for African American authors. In 2009, my second book, What We Ask of Flesh, was a finalist for the prize.
So come one, come all! I hope to see the NY folks for the reading and the after gathering, too :-)
Oh! and I've been told I better not hit NYC without taking in a performance of Fela!(guest staring THE Patti LaBelle), so if you can't make the reading but still want to hang out, you can catch me dancing in the aisles to this:
Now, to be fair, I must admit that I am not the biggest fan of Billy Collins' work, but I am a fan of teaching our children the wonder of words right from their start. Obviously, this three-year-old boy's parents feel the same way:
And here is the poem as you'd encounter it on the page:
Litany
You are the bread and the knife, The crystal goblet and the wine... -Jacques Crickillon
You are the bread and the knife, the crystal goblet and the wine. You are the dew on the morning grass and the burning wheel of the sun. You are the white apron of the baker, and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.
However, you are not the wind in the orchard, the plums on the counter, or the house of cards. And you are certainly not the pine-scented air. There is just no way that you are the pine-scented air.
It is possible that you are the fish under the bridge, maybe even the pigeon on the general's head, but you are not even close to being the field of cornflowers at dusk.
And a quick look in the mirror will show that you are neither the boots in the corner nor the boat asleep in its boathouse.
It might interest you to know, speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world, that I am the sound of rain on the roof.
I also happen to be the shooting star, the evening paper blowing down an alley and the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table.
I am also the moon in the trees and the blind woman's tea cup. But don't worry, I'm not the bread and the knife. You are still the bread and the knife. You will always be the bread and the knife, not to mention the crystal goblet and--somehow--the wine.
--Billy Collins
Honoree Jeffers mentioned this video to me yesterday and, when it appeared in my inbox this morning, I watched it and marveled at how precise and filled with emotion this child's recitation was/is. How many of us--even those of us who call ourselves poets--can recite poems we love this way? I'd like to imagine I can embody poems by several of my beloveds--Lucille Clifton, Sharon Olds, Derek Walcott, Gwendolyn Brooks, Langston Hughes--at the drop of a hat, but have I taught any of the children in my life to embrace words this way? I doubt that I have. Of all the workshops and reading classes I've taught that have included poetry, I haven't once used memorization as anything more than an extra credit exercise, and I don't believe in all my years of schooling that recitation was taught to me either. But this has not always been the case.
I routinely hear folks who have come one or two generations before me talk about how they were made to memorize poems and speeches during their formative years. At one time, this was a routine part of the educational system. What happened to this tool? Surely, we can make the argument that memorization and repetition help bolster critical thinking skills, so how and why has 'progressive education' all but abandoned this technique? Being an educator, I have a strange suspicion that, because there is no room for oral presentations when administering standardized exams, this learning tool has been deemed unnecessary and a waste of properly used classroom time. But what a shame that is. Imagine what children might learn, retain and grown to love (or at least remember fondly...) if we taught them to pour over words until they stuck. The toddler in the video above gives us a small glimpse of the opportunities we're missing.
