Date: Fri 17-Apr-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

Poetry-Connellan-Angelou

Full Text:

Poetry: Read It, Watch It, Listen to It and Enjoy It w/ book covers &

dropquote

By Joanne Greco Rochman

Ask people who their favorite poets are and they're as likely to mention Emily

Dickinson, now considered one of America's greatest poets as well as one of

the world's greatest women poets, as they are likely to mention contemporary

poet Maya Angelou, who read her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at the first

inauguration of William Jefferson Clinton. Ms Angelou has immediate name

recognition as a "poet." That's quite an accomplishment these days, since most

people consider poetry out of the mainstream and associate it with a small

elite group of intellectuals.

Do we attribute Ms Angelou's recognition factor to the teachers who teach

contemporary poetry, the publicity-oriented publishers, or is it possible

poetry is reaching people through today's high-tech? Most likely, it's a

combination of all of the above. Although Angelou is included in The Norton

Anthology of Literature By Women and included in the university canon, it is

more likely the masses know her through her numerous prime-time television

appearances and her very public "intimate" chats with Oprah Winfrey.

Not An Elite Little Group

We celebrate poets past and present this month more than any other time of

year because April is National Poetry Month. According to the Academy of

American Poets, the April designation was inaugurated in 1996. At that time,

the Academy encouraged publishers, booksellers, literary organizations,

libraries, educators and poets around the country to "celebrate poetry and its

vital place in American culture." Since then, sales of poetry books have

increased 25 to 35 percent at independent and chain stores across the country,

and teachers and librarians report an increased interest in poetry among both

children and adults.

With statistics and findings like that, there is no doubt people are

definitely reading poetry. Active participation in regional poetry slams,

standing-room-only coffee houses, open mikes for local poets, and hands-on

workshops at area universities are also making poetry very accessible. So are

compact discs, videos and on-line Web sites.

The 1998 Spring Release Book List, which came out this winter, listed more

than 200 books of poetry scheduled for spring publication. Many of the major

publishing houses are on that list. They feature classic as well as

contemporary poets. Carl Sandburg, Gertrude Stein, Pablo Neruda, Robert Bly

and Karl Shapiro are just a few included on that list.

When the National Book Critics Circle announced its 1997 Awards Nominees for

Poetry, they included poets of diverse nationalities including Brenda Hillman

(Wesleyan) for Loose Sugar ; Mark Jarman (Story Line) for Questions for

Ecclesiastes ; Sonia Sanchez (Beacon) for does Your House have Lions? ;

Charles Wright (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) for Black Zodiac ; and Frank Bidart

(Farrar, Straus & Giroux) for Desire . Not only is poetry being read, but it's

being read by a wide and diverse audience. It is not limited to an elite

little group.

However, books and awards aren't the only vehicles for endearing poets to

readers. Poetry keeps popping up in the most unexpected places these days.

Recently, Hartford Stage, a prominent regional theater, presented Love,

Langston , a play that put the poems of African-American Langston Hughes in a

staged spotlight. Audiences loved it.

Sonia Sanchez, a poet, activist and scholar, is not only publishing, but

getting closer to her audience via film and recordings. Her poetry can be seen

in the movie lovejones , read in Vibe magazine, and heard on rapper D

Knowledge's CD.

Visual interpretations of poetry are not limited to a quick spotlight on an

excerpt. James J. Docker, the president of Wolfe Tone Productions in

Kensington, just wrapped the final scene of a short movie, Lobster Claw , a

poem in its entirety by Connecticut State Poet Laureate Leo Connellan. The

film will bring the poem, verbatim, directly into classrooms and homes via

video cassette.

"The poem is such a masterpiece and lends itself so well to drama that I

couldn't resist filming it," said Mr Docker, who expects educational

distribution to the middle and high schools to be as active as commercial

distribution especially among the specialty, focus and poetry groups.

Leo Connellan, who was recommended last year by Senator Chris Dodd for the

position of Poet Laureate of the country, has published 12 books of poetry. No

ivory tower or distant poet, his moving and imaginative lines come so close to

the heart of the American people readers can feel the life pulse in his

rhythmic, fast flowing verses.

He travels throughout the state of Connecticut as a visiting poet to area

schools, including Newtown, and as a poetry workshop facilitator. He is

poet-in-residence of the Connecticut State University and has had his poetry

recorded by the Library of Congress. He is quick to quote the classics and

ready to take on the new millennium.

Whether he writes about the past or looks into the future, whether he

publishes in print or dramatizes on screen, he does so with a poet's eye and

the voice of humanity.

We're slipping out of a century.

The flame is low but the spark lives

at the end of centuries, even though

the last educated man has walked off the

university, where will he go but come back

when another century begun, slaps its excuses,

breathes deep, sparks afire. Tomorrow is not

yesterdays' tomorrows, wagons become autos,

arrows, guns, dying heart attacks quadruple

bypasses. Tomorrow buildings will dance along

with earthquakes, not crumble...

from "And We're Slipping Into

Another Century," published in

Volume XIX, No. 2, Fall 1997

of The Connecticut Review .

If Mr Connellan's buildings of tomorrow are going to dance with earthquakes,

you can bet the songs they'll be dancing to will be his poetry sung via the

Internet. Young and old alike are surfing the net today and enrolling in

poetry workshops in record numbers.

"In the midst of all the commercialism, poetry stays pure," said Nicholas

Rinaldi, a poet, novelist and professor at Fairfield University. "It stays

close to the bone.

"At Fairfield University we have swarms of people writing poetry. It's

surprising that they're coming to school to get their union cards for their

jobs and yet they're moving into poetry and theater."

Perhaps the double interest has a powerful commonality.

Plato said that when it comes to poets, God takes possession of their minds,

and speaks through them. Now their voices can actually be heard online at

www.poets.org. Sponsored by the Academy of American Poets, this web site

features the latest in poetry awards, programs, exhibits and calendars. Poetry

aficionados will want to visit the "Listening Booth," where audio clips of

poems are featured from the Academy's audiotape archive, or check out the

activities, auctions and discussion forums.

It's a very impressive web site that not only fills visitors in on the latest

information and trends, but also affords poets anywhere and everywhere the

opportunity to share their poems, find a poem, poet or book, or get involved

in a lively poetry discussion.

In addition to spreading poetry via bookstores and computers, the American

Poetry and Literacy (APL) Project and the Academy of American Poets have

teamed up to sponsor the Great APLseed Giveaway. Throughout the month of

April, Andrew Carroll, executive director of the APL Project, is driving

around the country in a Ryder Moving Service truck from New York to San

Francisco, stopping in large cities and small towns to give away 100,000 books

of poetry. Mr Carroll's coast-to-coast quest includes stops at supermarkets,

prisons, schools, hotels, truck stops, jury waiting rooms, zoos and other

unlikely poetry stops.