June 28 forum announcement

Dear Poetry Aficionados,

Poetry & Poets in Rags blog


We begin with Aung San Suu Kyi this week, including her first Reith lecture on freedom, plus three more on her views from the Guardian newspaper and Radio Free Asia. That is followed by a post on poet Yusuf Juma being freed by Uzbek authorities after a lengthy imprisonment during which he was tortured. Further down, is a post on Bahraini poet Ayat al-Gormezi and her torture in prison. Further down, in our Great Regulars section is Luisetta Mudie, who has translated for us, not only an article on torture of prisoners in Tibet, but two articles on just-released Ai Weiwei, the world-renowned artist now confined to Beijing. There's also a poem about him in Foreign Policy in Focus, newly added as a Great Regular. A friend of mine has said that poets are the canaries in the mine shafts. If they are free, then so will the rest of us be free to express ourselves. We all need that spiritual revolution Aung San Suu Kyi is talking about.

Also, high in headlines this week is the death of poet Robert Kroetsch. You'll find three links on this in Poetic Obituaries. But please scroll to Judith Fitzgerald's spot in Great Regulars. She and Leonard Cohen have written a tribute poem to him.

But is Robert Kroetsch the only important poet to die this week, or be commemorated? No. So please take a scroll through the Poetic Obituaries. Are the imprisoned poets the only news on poetry in News at Eleven this week? No, there is so much more, same for Great Regulars, some excellent articles, and wonderful poetry to read in both sections.

Thanks for clicking in.


Yours,
Rus

Our links:

IBPC: Poetry & Poets in Rags

Poetry & Poets in Rags blog

IBPC Home

~~~~~~~~~~~