So I missed the Dodge Poetry Festival this weekend, but I”m hoping for next year. In the meantime, I”ve kept up with some of the excitement by following along with what”s coming out of there in a few blogs. Here”s a taste of what you would have seen and heard if you”d made it to Stanhope, NJ, this weekend for the 2006 Dodge Poetry Festival.

This evening, in the main tent, we were treated to 21 poets reading over the course of 3 hours, loosely organized around a theme of “How is the truth to be said.” LJ Cohen, who maintains the blog Once in a Blue Muse at blogspot, and her own website at Blue Muse Poetry, blogged morning and evening, and added in snippets of poems heard and poems written at Dodge. The meditative, appreciative voice took me back to North Carolina, a dozen years ago. There is an energy in the air when poets gather that you”ll never feel anywhere else. LJ Cohen”s blog entries capture it well.

Also, we”ll be hearing from Rus Bowden, I”m sure, if not at BudBloom Poetry, then at Poetry and Poets in Rags. He was there – amazing how this world of poetry can be so deliciously small. When Lisa Cohen talks about the lovely conversation, I”m reminded all over again of my own lovely conversations with Rus about poetry, and my excitement to see that he has indeed taken to podcasting and audioblogging with a vengeance.

January O”Neill blogged all three days as well, and filled a page of pictures that make you lonesome for the place even if you”ve never been there. She wrote at Poet Mom, 1. Dodge is AWESOME! I know that doesn”t tell you much but for a poet this is nirvana. Everyone comes with open minds and hearts. Nowhere else can I hear 19 poets read in 10 minute intervals. Nowhere else can I hear Billy Collins and Anne Waldman read on the same stage.. Her insightful comments on poets, both emerging and nationally known voices, are refreshing to read. She”s going on my regular blog list after this!

Steve Sherlock”s posted more pictures at his blog, and short bites about the festival that were just enough to whet my appetite. He warned on Thursday that his blogging would be light, and it was – but I think he got the best pic of the Festival. Check out the empty chair at the Poets Only stage.

Finally, Anthony Buccino posted a wonderful 5-part series at his Uncletonoose blog. Buccino is a writer and editor from the noozpapah world, and it shows. His posts are more factual – less personal, and a lot of fun to read. Me, personally? I applaud the high school girl who waved a $50 in her principal”s face to try to pull together a field trip to Dodge.

Technorati Tags: poetry, poets, poetry blogs, Dodge poetry festival

The function of art in general and of poetry in particular has not been or is to solve the fundamental problems of men and women. Its function is to remind us, from an ever new perspective, the existence of these problems. And our potential to solve them. Poetry and art are there to widen our conscience, and to spur it on an emancipating direction.

On Thursday, the Right Livelihood Award Foundation announced the 2006 recipients of the Right Livelihood Award. Among the three are a U.S. man who exposed corruption in government, an Indian woman who has dedicated her life to securing equal rights for other women, and a poetry festival that is an inspiration to the entire world. The three recipients of the RLA for 2006 are Daniel Ellsberg of the United States of America, Ruth Manorama of India and The International Poetry Festival of Medellin. The Foundation Right Livelihood, headquartered in Sweden, annually makes an award to those who offer an outstanding vision and work on behalf of our planet and our people. Established in 1980, the $230,000 (approx) award has become widely known as the Alternative Nobel.

The Right Livelihood Award is about changing the world. It is about giving a little more scope and influence to people who have a vision and a commitment to better futures for all. And it is about shifting the balance in their favour against the Goliaths who will otherwise continue destroying the world for power or profit.
-RLA Aims and Objectives.

Historically, the RLA has been awarded to individuals and organizations whose work promotes peace, sound ecological policies and practices, social justice and human rights for all. In making the award to the Medellin poetry festival, the award”s granters stated that it is “…for showing how creativity, beauty, free expression and community can flourish amongst and overcome even deeply entrenched fear and violence.”

The Medellin Poetry Festival began in 1991 as a protest against political violence and hatred. It was, said the festival”s initiator, an attempt “to create through poetry an atmosphere that without ignoring the spiral of death and the inertial strength of hate could put a little light in this sombre scene.” The first Festival was organized by a group of 13 people. In the fifteen years since its inception, the “little light” has grown to a shining beacon with 200,000 people in attendance to hear and participate in 80 to 100 readings over the course of ten days.

The award will be presented in a ceremony to take place in Stockholm on December 8, the day before the presentation of the Nobel Peace Prizes.

I have to admit that I have never been a fan of poetry backed by music – to me, you put poetry and music together and you get a song, which is its own kind of poetry. Most often, when I have listened to contemporary poets reading their work backed by a musician, the music has served as a distraction to the words, and both words and music suffered for it.

Tony Brown and Steven “Faro” Cafaro changed my mind Sunday night at the Poets Asylum at the Java Hut. The occasion was the inaugural performance of Tony”s newest chapbook, “Jim”s Fall”, the chronicle of a suburban guy”s descent into madness. The performance was, to put it bluntly, purely amazing. Tony has long been one of my favorite poets – both to read and hear. He earned that place in my heart the first time I heard him read his poem “Day of the Dead” nearly fifteen years ago. His poetry, even his most prosaic poems, is an exercise in the mystical, and his voice is that of the shaman, drawing the listener into something that is more than a poem. It”s a communion between words and ear, between mind and poet, between listener and the message that blossoms somewhere in the subconscious. I honestly was fully expecting to be disappointed at the attempted wedding of Tony”s poetry with music.

I should have known better. Faro”s artistry on the bass is the equal of Tony”s with words, and the two together were a seamless melding of sound and mood and meaning. His fingers kept time perfectly to match the tone of the tale of Jim”s descent – or perhaps, awakening, adding immeasurably to the experience. Or perhaps that”s the wrong wording. Having heard Tony and Faro working in concert, I can”t hear the poems without the music any longer. Even when I read them aloud myself, I hear the beat of Faro”s bass creeping up behind the words. He matched tone for tone with Tony”s poetry, from the ominous declarations of Jim”s Ego to the funky, low jazzy strum that backs Jim Hangs On and Jim Beats the Rap.

The performance was a masterpiece – and I use the word advisedly. I have been attending poetry features and readings for over a dozen years – I can count on the fingers of one hand how many times I have seen a featured performance receive a standing ovation. This was one of them, and it was well-deserved. When the applause died down, Tony introduced an encore set by Faro – and his music held its own, holding the room spellbound for another ten minutes.

For a taste of what I was treated to on Sunday night, click the track in the Audioblog. Then drop by Faro”s myspace page and give a listen to Faro on his own.. Then stop by Tony”s LJ to read his account of the night. It was magic.

And if you”re going to be in the neighborhood of Bar 13 in NYC on Oct 9th, get there early. Tony and Faro will be doing their only scheduled repeat performance there that night. If you can be there, you should.

(Audio file ripped from Jim”s Fall, Poems by Tony Brown. Music by Steven Cafaro. Used under the terms of Creative Commons License)

Technorati Tags: poetry, poems, Tony Brown, Steven Cafaro, Java Hut, Poets Asylum

The Dodge Poetry Festival is the largest poetry event in North America and it is the most energetic, festive, and high-spirited celebration of poetry I have ever seen. (Billy Collins)

If you haven”t already made your plans, you have five days to get out to Dodge. No, now out OF Dodge – TO Dodge. The Dodge Poetry Festival 2006 takes place this week, Thursday Sept 28 to Sunday October 1. Judging from the list of performers and from past events, it”s going to be three days stuffed with poetic performances, events, readings, sharing and fun. The last Dodge Festival, which is held every two years, attracted over 19,000 people – not bad for a dying art form, hm?

Since 1986, the Dodge has been held every two years, growing with each year until it is widely considered the largest poetry event in the country. This year promises 60 poets reading from sunrise to sundown and beyond from ten different stages throughout the fairgrounds. In addition to the readings, festival goers will have the opportunity to attend workshops, round table discussions, listen to storytellers and musicians with as many as twelve different events happening simultaneously over the course of the four days. You can view the entire program at the Dodge Poetry Festival Web Site. The weekend does include special events aimed at teachers of high school students in keeping with the Dodge Foundation”s interest in encouraging a new generation of poets.

This year is the 20th anniversary of the festival and to celebrate, it is returning to the site of the first Dodge Poetry Festival, Waterloo Village, a National Historic Site in Stanhope, New Jersey. Along with information about the festival itself, the web site also offers directions and information on lodging.

Technorati Tags: poetry, poetry events, Dodge Poetry Festival, Billy Collins

From emdashes, this bit from the NYTimes

Stanley Kunitz, the former poet laureate of the United States who died in May at 100, will be celebrated in a free memorial tribute on Sept. 20 at the 92nd Street Y. Among those scheduled to reminisce and read from his work are the poets Mark Doty, Sharon Olds, Marie Howe, Galway Kinnell and Genine Lentine, and Gretchen Kunitz, his daughter. Mr. Kunitz had a long association with the Unterberg Poetry Center at the Y, first reading there in 1958. An archival film of one of his appearances is to be shown. Information: (212) 415-5500.

Kunitz died in May of this year. Born in my hometown, he has a special place in my heart that was only reinforced by his last book, “The Wild Braid: A Poet Reflects on a Century in the Garden”. The book was released in 2005, less than a year before his death at age 100.

Five Poems by Kunitz
More poems by Kunitz
Kunitz at Wikipedia
Kunitz at the Oxford University Blog
A Kunitz Memorial