Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Poetic Obituaries: [Alamin] Bakr's daughter, Chonnell Drinker, 14,

suffered severe injuries that left her brain-dead. The family made the decision on Saturday to take Drinker off life support.

"When I walked in the room to visit her that day and saw her eyes were open but there was nothing behind them, that was very hurtful. And just to see her body deteriorate the way it was, that was hard to do," Bakr said. "My baby was so creative. She loved to draw. She wanted to have her own clothes line. She was very artistic and she would just draw clothes, write poems. She loved to look pretty."

from WISC Madison: Mother Speaks Out About Fatal Crash Involving Teens

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Poetic Obituaries: [Mildred Irene Endsley] worked at Goodyear Blimp

in Akron during WWII, and was later the operator of Mid's Fudge & Concessions for many years. She was a member of the Walhonding Church of Christ, the Greater Ohio Showmen's Association, the Independent Showmen's Association of Tampa, FL, and was well known and acclaimed for her poetry and writing.

from Coshocton Tribune: Mildred Irene Endsley

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Poetic Obituaries: [Phyllis] Gotlieb's career in science-fiction

stretched decades. Her first novel, Sunburst, was published in 1964. She would go on to write a number of other novels and poetry, publishing her last work in 2002. Gotlieb was dubbed the "mother of Canadian Science Fiction," by some.

from National Post: The Afterword: Phyllis Gotlieb, Canadian sci-fi pioneer, passes away

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Poetic Obituaries: At the age of 15, Te Hanh went

to study in Hue where he met and discussed poetry with the Tho Moi group of poets. He became a member of the movement which led to a golden age for Vietnamese poetry. Hanh's contribution to the movement was considerable, and many of his poems are still popular today. His most famous works include Nhung Ngay Nghi Hoc (Out-of-School Days) and Que Huong (In My Village).

from Viet Nam Net: Poet Te Hanh dies at age 88

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Poetic Obituaries: We have to think of the most befitting way

to respect, and uphold, the memory of Ji [Xianlin] and Ren [Jiyu]. Pretending to know everything we could possibly know about the two masters is certainly not one of them. Ji's achievements, for instance, were mainly in ancient Indian languages and Sanskrit literature. Ren was a giant in the field of philosophy and religion. Most of us don't understand much about these subjects.

We Chinese have always been generous in our praise of writers, poets and scholars. The fact is we're not familiar or informed of the nature of Ji's and Ren's works. We are merely fascinated with them as prolific authors.

from China Daily: Chronicle of two deaths retold as a message

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Poetic Obituaries: Among [Yuri] Kaplan's many works

was "Babi Yar," although it did not achieve the renown of Yevgeny Yevtushenko's poem of the same name.

Kaplan was buried July 16 in Kiev.

from JTA: Jewish poet murdered in Ukraine

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Poetic Obituaries: [Nancy J.] Karpolorich was a member of

the Second United Methodist Church of Millville and a member of the PTA. She enjoyed writing poetry, doing crossword puzzles, and was an avid listener to WSNJ with Jonathan P. and Fred.

from The Daily Journal: Nancy J. Karpolorich, 85

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Poetic Obituaries: [Frank McCourt] considered his public speaking

prowess inseparable from his role as a writer and accepted several invitations a year to appear at charitable fund-raisers and writing workshops at Connecticut's community college campuses. His name on the marquee of the Warner Theater in Torrington or Hartford's Bushnell guaranteed a sellout audience.

In private conversations, as well as before audiences, McCourt was an effortless, comic entertainer.

from The Hartford Courant: Frank McCourt, Author Of Angela's Ashes, Dies At 78
also The Hartford Courant: Pictures: Frank McCourt

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Poetic Obituaries: [D.K. Pattammal] first sang in "Thyagabhoomi",

a film banned by the British rule for its patriotic content, and then in "Naam Irruvar".

Among her big hits was "Aduvome pallu paduvome", a utopian creation of Bharathi celebrating a free India, in Naam Iruvar. She went on to popularise several patriotic compositions of the revolutionary Tamil poet.

from The Hindu: Carnatic vocalist Pattammal is no more

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Poetic Obituaries: "While living and working in our little,

tiny communities, in the midst of towering highrises, we fought the oppressor, the landlord, the developer, the banks, City Hall. But most of all, we celebrated through our culture; music, dance, song and poetry--not only the best we knew, but the best we had."

Poetry was a central part of Al [Robles]'s life, and in his twenties, according to Emil De Guzman, he was a regular in San Francisco's famous North Beach neighborhood, with the Beat poets like Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Allen Ginsberg. Al was also a painter and a carpenter who made Japanese tea houses.

But his art and poetry also were inextricably linked to his activism.

from Inquirer Global Nation: Remember the Poet-Warrior, Al Robles

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Poetic Obituaries: Other volunteer pursuits include recording

textbook tapes for the visually handicapped and scheduling volunteers for the Israeli food booth at the International Folk Fair for 15 years.

[Florence Feller] Sussman enjoyed playing Scrabble and writing poetry. Her recipes were included in a 1980 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel cookbook "Best Cook on the Block."

from Jewish Chronicle: Florence Feller Sussman

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Poetic Obituaries: More recently, [Bobby] Swain also

became known for his poetry, which he had been writing for four decades but which was first published just last fall in a slim volume titled "Turn, Turn, Tern: My Unfinished Business," published by local press Hickory House.

The intensely personal poems reflect his thoughts and emotions throughout a life that was harder than most.

"Some of the poems were written out of pure desperation; some will make you laugh; some will make you cry,...but they're all mine," Swain said at a reading in Onancock last February.

from The Daily Times: Well-known artist dies at 64

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

July 14th Poetic Ticker Clicking

News Article Tape:
Blog Entry Tape:
Posted by at 3 comments :

July 14th forum announcement

Dear Poetry Aficionados,

IBPC: Poetry & Poets in Rags


Last week, we began with two poets in prison and one in exile. This week is no better. We begin with a poet imprisoned in Egypt, another in Gitmo, and the third poet could not get entry into Great Britain to read at the Ledbury Poetry Festival. And can't you just picture the argument that must have taken place at the airport. Well, at least the Queen can sleep a little easier tonight knowing that one less poet is in her country.

Seriously, though, these are signs that the world is at stake. These are grievous acts of censorship on the parts of governments, which show us that those in charge need to get trade or cubicle jobs--or be sent to prison themselves if it is uncontrolable--in order to allow others to make decisions. At best, it shows incompetence. At worse, it is evil. Come on!

Dozens more articles. Just in News at Eleven, those three opening items are followed by two remarkable poems you can listen to. Thanks for surfing through.

Yours,
Rus

Our links:

IBPC: Poetry & Poets in Rags

Poetry & Poets in Rags blog

IBPC Home

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

News at Eleven: Mounir Saied Hanna was arrested in May

after authorities charged that 15 of his poems cast the president in a less than flattering light. On June 27 he was sentenced to prison and fined. However, the court's decision was appealed on the basis that he did not have a lawyer during the investigation phase. A new verdict is expected by Saturday.

Under Egyptian law, any citizen who publicly insults the president can be imprisoned for between 24 hours and three years.

from Los Angeles Times: Poet accused of insulting Mubarak awaits final verdict

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at 2 comments :

News at Eleven: Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif, 28, was in Pakistan

looking for medical treatment--he had an injury from an accident in 1994, and was looking around the world for affordable treatment. In 2004, Pakistani forces detained him and turned him over to the United States for a $5,000 bounty, after which he became a Guantanamo detainee.

Latif spent his first weeks at Camp X-Ray in an open-air cage, exposed to the tropical sun, without shade or shelter from the wind that buffeted him with sand and pebbles.

from Yemen Times: Yemeni poets behind Gitmo's bars

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

News at Eleven: Dorothea Rosa Herliany, according to the festival,

is one of the most important poets writing in Indonesia today. She is a feminist, note the Muslim society in which she works, and has eight volumes of poetry to her name. Currently resident for a short time in Germany, she received this crushingly dim response to her application for a visa.

"You have provided an invitation to participate in the Ledbury Poetry Festival in the UK, however you have failed to provide any documents showing the funds available to you or demonstrating your current circumstances in Germany. I note that you only arrived in Germany in April 09, and have limited leave to remain until 30/07/09. I am therefore not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that you are a genuine visitor, that you intend to leave the UK at the end of your visit."

from The Guardian: Stopping culture at our borders

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

News at Eleven: One of Britain's best known poets, Roger McGough,

has delivered a filmed reading of a new poem to be released exclusively on the Alzheimer's Society website.

'A Fine Romance' explores the theme of dementia and it's impact on relationships. The moving verse is taken from McGough's freshly released and eagerly anticipated collection of poetry, 'That Awkward Age'.

from Alzheimers Society: Roger McGough performs for people with dementia

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at 1 comment :

News at Eleven: It is perhaps stating the obvious

to say that there is almost no money to be made in poetry. Instead, most poets make a living doing something else. Take, for example, Elizabeth Haukaas.

Haukaas' poem "The Blues" is about her daughter, who has both multiple sclerosis and epilepsy. The poem was published in The New England Review a little more than a year ago, earning Haukaas $20 and catching the eye of an editor at Texas Tech University Press, who read it and invited Haukaas to submit a manuscript to compete for the Walt McDonald poetry book award. She did, and won.

from NPR: For Poets, A Labor Of Love (Not Money)
also NPR: Elizabeth Haukaas reads 'The Blues'

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

News at Eleven: And short, simple words

are her [Mary Ann Hoberman's] preference.

"I certainly don't write down to children," she said. "If presented properly, children love poetry," Mrs. Hoberman continued. "They adore bouncy, rhyming things. I don't have any hesitation going into a room with children and getting them to participate."

That bouncy rhythm is evident in A House is a House for Me, which won a National Book Award in 1983. It begins:

from Ridgefield Press: Accolades abound for children's poet

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

News at Eleven: This new venture is Full Circle Editions,

set up by Bloomsbury co-founder and Harry Potter discoverer-in-chief Liz Calder, together with TV producers John and Genevieve Christie and a former editor of the Bookseller, Louis Baum.

The book--called The Burning Of The Books--is also a collaborative effort; between the poet George Szirtes and the artist Ronald King. It's printed on creamy tactile paper, complete with luxurious fold-outs. Genevieve Christie sells it as "wonderful writing in a lovely form" and the prints spread out about the room certainly looked good. The Guernica-influenced pictures, etched in white and black (heavy on the black) have a dark kind of beauty.

from The Guardian: Can a new publisher flourish?

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

News at Eleven: It could quite reasonably be argued

that [Algernon Charles] Swinburne was not merely the prophet of the twentieth-century sexual revolution but the person who first gave open voice in the English language to the joys of lesbianism. The Oxford English Dictionary's earliest usage of the word is from A. J. Munby's diary in 1870, where the reference is clearly to such explicitly lesbian poems as "Anactoria": "Swinburne . . . expressed a horror of sodomy . . . and an actual admiration of Lesbianism, being unable to see that that is equally loathsome".

from The Times Literary Supplement: A century after Swinburne

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

News at Eleven: [Albert] Goldbarth said that he has

a new book of poems in the works, which he is currently working on piecing together for a possible release sometime in the fall.

"Let me say I hope the new book will be read in one thousand years," Goldbarth said.

Excerpt from Goldbarth's latest work:

Albert Goldbarth To Be Read in 500 Years

"If We Were Honest"

from The Daily Iowan: Poetry from the heart of space

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

News at Eleven: "[. . .] I'm trying to do a song-and-dance act.

But I never set out to be a poet. It's more like a massive hobby that has got out of hand, a gradual slide from a way of not getting on with my life, to something that ended up as a way of getting on with my life." [--Hugo Williams]

Williams on Williams

Washing My Hands

Muddy water comes clear

from The Guardian: A life in books: Hugo Williams

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

News at Eleven (Back Page): Jack [Kerouac] was a hardy hiker

and old football player, who had no problem laying on the ground and going to sleep, and after Tam I talked him into applying for his famous fire lookout job. Allen [Ginsberg] was thought of as one of these wimpy Easterners, but he and I did a ropes, ice axes, and crampons climb of Glacier Peak in the North Cascades in Washington state one time. [--Gary Snyder]

from CounterPunch: Walking Mount Tam

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Great Regulars: Of course, it's nearly impossible

when "towers" are mentioned to not think of the tragedy of the World Trade Center, and not to see the dripping faucets as ceaseless life measured out in "coffee spoons," small clear seeds of water headed for the drain.

However you choose to read this poem, it is a wrenching yet delicate encounter with human mortality.

[by Kevin Prufer

Seeds]

The pepper on the cutting board

from Walter Bargen: The Post-Dispatch: Missouri Poets: Kevin Prufer

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Great Regulars: Jim Harrison: I think that's true,

you know, because sometimes you have little breakthroughs. I've known this group of ravens for 19 years, for instance, Chihuahuan ravens, Mexican ravens. And last year, several times, they began to take walks with me.

Jeffrey Brown: But then you put them into poetry?

Jim Harrison: Yes, then you do. You know, what is it that Blake said? How do we know but that every bird who cuts the airy way is an immense world of delight close to our senses five, that perception? What is possible in the natural world?

from Jeffrey Brown: PBS: Newshour: Writer, Poet Jim Harrison Is a Determined 'Outsider'

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Great Regulars: When her partner first told her


that he loved her, she senses that God was speaking His own love for her as well.

As she excitedly but tenderly took in the meaning of the declaration of love, she realized what her lot might have become without this happy turn of events. She responds rather hesitantly, even awkwardly recalling her physical illnesses that she labels "the curse."

from Linda Sue Grimes: Suite101.com: Barrett Browning's Sonnet 2

~~~~~~~~~~~

The speaker finally remarks that her beloved has "chrism" on his head, while she has only "dew." The precious oil coupled with plain dew astonishes her, and she conjures the image, "Death must dig the level where these agree." On the material plain and in a clearly class-based society, she cannot reconcile the differences; thus, she asserts that she will just allow "Death" to determine the meaning and progression of it all.

from Linda Sue Grimes: Suite101.com: Barrett Browning's Sonnet 3

~~~~~~~~~~~

Wilfred Owen's Petrarchan sonnet, "Anthem for Doomed Youth," features two questions regarding the deaths of soldiers dying in war: In the octave, the speaker asks, what is the point of tolling death knells for people who "die as cattle"? His question dehumanizes the heroes who give their lives in service to their country.

from Linda Sue Grimes: Suite101.com: Owen's Anthem for Doomed Youth

~~~~~~~~~~~

In the second quatrain, the speaker reports that his siblings, a brother and a sister, both "died at birth." But oddly, those siblings are "continuing their existence in you/Guiding my life/Toward their incomprehensible innocence."

It is at this point that the workshop will break into pandemonium over the workability of the quatrain. How the devil can he liken his shoes to his dead brother and sister? How on earth can those dead siblings be guiding his life through his shoes, no less? And what is so "incomprehensible" about the "innocence" of infants who die at birth?

from Linda Sue Grimes: Suite101.com: Simic's My Shoes

~~~~~~~~~~~

The speaker insists that he "will come again and again!" The unselfishness of the God-united saint is beyond comprehension by those unrealized minds and hearts, whose very existence seems to dictate the necessity of remaining self-centered and self-focused as they identify with their flesh, race, country, gender, and their relatives and possessions.

from Linda Sue Grimes: Suite101.com: Yogananda's God's Boatman

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Great Regulars: I am deeply saddened and concerned

with the worsening situation in East Turkestan (Xinjiang), especially with the tragic loss of lives.

I earnestly urge the Chinese authorities to exercise restraint in dealing with the situation in a spirit of understanding and far-sightedness.

I offer my prayers for those who lost their lives, their families and others affected by this sad turn of events.

from Tenzin Gyatso: The Office of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama: Statement From His Holiness the Dalai Lama

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Great Regulars: I just got REALLY depressed because

I actually calculated--seriously, I brought out my calculator and scrap paper and even contacted my friend who works as a computer programmer for IBM--and came up with the paltry figure of roughly 40,500 poems left in the English language.

from Kristen Hoggatt: The Smart Set: Ask a Poet: Non-renewable Resource

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Great Regulars: Black Islands

by Martin Espada

for Darío

At Isla Negra,

from Garrison Keillor: The Writer's Almanac: Black Islands by Martin Espada

~~~~~~~~~~~

Blue Suburban
by Howard Nemerov

Out in the elegy country, summer evenings,

from Garrison Keillor: The Writer's Almanac: Blue Suburban by Howard Nemerov

~~~~~~~~~~~

Latina Worker
by Doren Robbins

Then I notice through a triple-Americano-awakening moment,

from Garrison Keillor: The Writer's Almanac: Latina Worker by Doren Robbins

~~~~~~~~~~~

Money
by John Updike

Money is such a treat.

from Garrison Keillor: The Writer's Almanac: Money by John Updike

~~~~~~~~~~~

Pink and White
by Deborah Garrison

Peonies are the only flower I care for

from Garrison Keillor: The Writer's Almanac: Pink and White by Deborah Garrison

~~~~~~~~~~~

The Place I Want To Get Back To
by Mary Oliver

is where

from Garrison Keillor: The Writer's Almanac: The Place I Want To Get Back To by Mary Oliver

~~~~~~~~~~~

To A High School Senior
by Pat Schneider

Don't go. Don't stay.

from Garrison Keillor: The Writer's Almanac: To A High School Senior by Pat Schneider

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Great Regulars: When we're young, it seems

there are endless possibilities for lives we might lead, and then as we grow older and the opportunities get fewer we begin to realize that the life we've been given is the only one we're likely to get. Here's Jean Nordhaus, of the Washington, D.C. area, exploring this process.

I Was Always Leaving

from Ted Kooser: American Life in Poetry: Column 224

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Great Regulars: Poetry slams represent much of what

I find disturbing about the state of contemporary poetry in America.

The work that gets read, recited or performed at these events tends to be trite, self indulgent, boring, narcissistic, embarrassing, obscene, boorish, coarse, uncultured, unintelligent, uncouth, or all of the above.

from Anthony Maulucci: Norwich Bulletin: Slams are a nuisance, and of no real use to true poets

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Great Regulars: The Next Life

by Andrew Motion

from Andrew Motion: The Guardian: The Next Life by Andrew Motion

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Great Regulars: My Aunts

by Meghan O'Rourke

from Meghan O’Rourke: The New Yorker: Poetry: My Aunts

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Great Regulars: In his best, most characteristic writing,

[Thom] Gunn is what you might call a poet of friction: he's interested in the ways in which surfaces push off, against or into each other. Consider his description of surfing in "From the Wave":

The mindless heave of which they rode
A fluid shelf
Breaks as they leave it, falls and, slowed,
Loses itself.

Clear, the sheathed bodies slick as seals
Loosen and tingle;
And by the board the bare foot feels
The suck of shingle.

from David Orr: The New York Times: Too Close to Touch

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Great Regulars: Its form, a variant of the French form

[Algernon Charles] Swinburne particularly favoured, the Ballade, is the Ballade Supreme, with its 10-lined stanzas and five-line envoi. Swinburne's choice of such forms is all of a piece with his love of repeating grammatical constructions, those mirrors and antitheses that create a swirling or to-and-fro motion. Here, the refrain brings us back to the inevitability of the process he is describing. Its circular movement is appropriate. And, through it all, you seem to hear the sea-wind gusting and punching out those hexameter lines: "Wind is lord and change is sovereign of the strand."

The Cliffside Path
(from A Midsummer Holiday and Other Poems, 1884)

from Carol Rumens: The Guardian: Books blog: Poem of the week: The Cliffside Path by Algernon Charles Swinburne

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Great Regulars: It was Bhanubhakta Acharya who created

a literary revolution by using the day to day language of the people for writing his immortal poetry. He became a people's poet by popularising the written form of the Khas language. He achieved this revolutionary effect through his translation of the Valmiki Ramayan into the Nepali language. Thus he made the exploits, the glory and the grandeur of Lord Rama accessible to the common people of Nepal. His translation of the Ramayan was so lyrical that the common people started viewing it as a song rather than as a poem.

What is most exciting to note about Bhanubhakta's literary evolution into a creative genius is that he did not study Western literature at all.

from V Sundaram: News Today: Baritone: National poet of Nepal

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Great Regulars: Some years after The Road to Serfdom,

[Friedrich von] Hayek wrote an essay called "Why I Am Not a Conservative." In it, he describes "as liberal the position which I hold and which I believe differs as much from true conservatism as from socialism," and he proceeds to argue that "the liberal today must more positively oppose some of the basic conceptions which most conservatives share with the socialists." Of course, Hayek uses liberal in its classic sense, referring to someone whose aim is "to free the process of spontaneous growth from the obstacles and encumbrances that human folly has erected." (John Galt couldn't have put it better.)

from Frank Wilson: Philadelphia Inquirer: A growing disconnect?

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Great Regulars: And neither is there pain

by Alan Davies

And neither is there pain

from The Brooklyn Rail: And neither is there pain




~~~~~~~~~~~

Pollock Pouring

by Clayton Eshleman

To cage you blizzard, to purify

from The Brooklyn Rail: Pollock Pouring



~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Great Regulars: Yugure Wa

By Izumi Shikibu

In the dusk the path

from CounterPunch: Poets' Basement: Five Poems From the Japanese

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Great Regulars: By Michelle Paulsen -

my daughter says

from Express-News: Poetry: 'Piñata'

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Great Regulars: Meatloaf

by Donald Hall

from The New Yorker: Poetry: Meatloaf

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Great Regulars: "Biopsy"

By Sophie Cabot Black

from Slate: "Biopsy" --By Sophie Cabot Black

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Great Regulars: Yet there is an easy wit to "The Rich",

with its rise to the fervent pitch of that "scorned advantage", which the rich will voluntarily give away in a moment of revolutionary fervour, followed by a mocking, Betjemanesque rhyme: "They know that it can't happen / In Worthing or Wantage". Given the range of his interests, across time, space and art, these are perhaps the last places on earth where one might look for Charles Tomlinson.

The Rich

from The Times Literary Supplement: Poem of the Week: The Rich by Charles Tomlinson

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Great Regulars: This is the first poem of my new book,

"Romanticism." It marks the start of a journey, a difficult but not a hopeless one.

I was standing in front of my kitchen window, looking north (not east) at the Vermont mountains and drying dishes with a fraying cotton (not holland) cloth, when A the phrase came to me: "God and love are real, but very far away." I had bought the fabric (of many more colors than just blue and yellow) in Amsterdam more than a decade ago. I had never made it into a skirt; I cut and sewed the cloth into dish towels so I could handle it often, until it dissolved from use.

from The Washington Post: Poet's Choice: 'The Going' by April Bernard

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Poetic Obituaries: Passionate about literature and poetry,

Jack [Antreassian] continued to write even as he entered a long and distinguished career of public service in the Armenian community. He apprenticed at the Armenian Mirror-Spectator (to which he returned a few times later as editor) under the fatherly and cherished tutelage of Bedros Norehad. He later served as executive director of the AGBU at its East 40th Street headquarters in New York, where he launched an ambitious Armenian cultural program of art exhibits, concerts, and classes.

from Armenian Reporter: Jack Antreassian, 89, was executive director of AGBU and Eastern Diocese

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at 1 comment :

Poetic Obituaries: Urdu poets Hamid Bahraichi and Rajiv Raj

were today killed when the car in which they were travelling collided with a stationary truck in Gosaiganj police station area here.

from Chennaionline: Two Urdu poets killed in accident

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Poetic Obituaries: [Annastine E. Bodkin] spent time collecting

shoebox items for charitable donations at Christmas. She had a love of theater arts and received certificates in the school-sponsored forensics exhibitions in the area of poetry. She loved animals, particularly bunnies, and she helped take great care of our two cats. She also loved visual arts and crafts and would spend hours drawing, coloring and creating. Her favorite color was pink. She had just started taking sewing classes and was very excited about that as well.

from The News Leader: Annastine E. Bodkin

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Poetic Obituaries: Neighbors could spot Robert Brundage Ph.D.,

with his bushy beard and helmet, pedaling on his bike from one end of Toledo to the other to catch the next social justice meeting, plant trees, hear the latest poetry readings or simply chat with friends.

"No matter if you were black or white, rich or poor, Robert would always be willing to respond to you and love you," said close friend Joe Zsigray. "In sharing himself with the community, he lives on, and because of that experience of Robert in our lives, there's a transformation taking place in the lives of many people."

The 66-year-old activist, scientist and environmentalist died at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center on July 7, leaving what friends describe as a legacy of compassion for Toledo's history and future.

from Toledo Free Press: Brundage remembered as friend and teacher

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Poetic Obituaries: [Christopher Burstall's] reverent profile of Auden,

A Poet of Disenchantment (1965), featured the actress Susannah York at the height of her fame--she had recently starred in Tom Jones (1963) with Albert Finney. But she had never spoken poetry before, so she went out on the Yorkshire moors and yelled Auden's lines into the driving wind and rain.

from Telegraph: Christopher Burstall

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Poetic Obituaries: John Copp said his son, whom everyone knew

as "Jonny," learned how to walk among Tibetan refugees and grew up traveling the world.

"It taught him, and all of us, to see the world through different eyes," John Copp said.

His [Jonny Copp's] family plans to publish the climber's journals, a collection of poetry and reflection.

from Colorado Daily: Hundreds mourn, remember Boulder climbers

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Poetic Obituaries: [Janet Farr] loved to write of her outdoor

experiences and of her extensive travel trips by travel trailer, horseback, canoe, and especially hiking with her husband and close friend, Lotte Buhler of Stanley, Idaho. She also wrote three manuscripts detailing her life and experiences. Most recently, she experimented with writing free-verse poetry, all having to do with scenes in nature.

from Idaho Mountain Express: Janet Farr

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Poetic Obituaries: At the lectern, [James Baker] Hall's family

and friends read from his books as they talked about him. They described a man driven to rise at 4 a.m. every day not just to make art but to teach young Kentuckians that they, too, have a universal responsibility to bring art into the world.

Not that Hall, a former Kentucky poet laureate, took everything seriously, they said.

from Lexington Herald-Leader: Hundreds memorialize James Baker Hall

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Poetic Obituaries: Among the many notable moments

at Michael Jackson's funeral was Queen Latifah's reading of the Maya Angelou poem "We Had Him." The popular poetess wrote the poem specifically for the occasion (no easy task) and just that morning asked Latifah to perform it, which she did with spirit and elegance.

from The Huffington Post: Maya Angelou's Elegy For Michael Jackson

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at 1 comment :

Poetic Obituaries: [Bonnie] Marshall also made a difference

in the Grand Rapids and Spring Lake communities, [Nancie Jeanne] Hudson wrote. In Grand Rapids, she was an instructor for the "Write. Create. You." creative writing workshops in Grand Rapids Public Schools, where students learn about everything from character development to poetry slams.

from WZZM 13: Woman found dead in Ferrysburg was diversity professor at GVSU

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Poetic Obituaries: In his career with the Marathi film

industry and the literary world spanning over four decades, [Shantaram] Nandgaonkar penned hundreds of poems, plays, lyrics and composed music.

He had penned the song "Ya Duniyemadhye Thambaayela Vel Konala", which was sung by cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar.

from Thaindian News: Noted Marathi litterateur Shantaram Nandgaonkar dead

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :

Poetic Obituaries: After graduating from the Art Institute of Chicago,

Mr. [Arthur] Okamura studied painting on a fellowship in Mallorca, where he became friends with writer Robert Creeley, one of the originators of the "Black Mountain School" of poetry in the '50s.

In his career, Mr. Okamura illustrated books of poetry by Creeley, Robert Bly and other writers. Known for his playful nature, he wrote and illustrated "The Paper Propeller, the Spinning Quarter, the Jumping Frog and 38 Other Amazing Tricks You Can Do with Stuff Lying Around the House."

from Contra Costa Times: Arthur Okamura, Bolinas artist and teacher, dies at 77

~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted by at No comments :
Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )