Bettina Judd's Reading 9/17 at MC

 I thought I'd blow off some of this blog's dust today and write about Bettina Judd's reading at MC.  It's been good to read poems from other times and places ("The Ballad of Mulan" and so on), but I've always liked going to readings to hear what other people are writing NOW.

Bettina Judd's poetry fits in nicely with last week's readings...Robert Hayden's "Middle Passage," Muriel Ruykeser's "Absolom," and even Seamus Heaney's "The Tollund Man" and "The Bog Queen."  Research is a significant part of Ms. Judd's writing process since many of her poems are about historical figures or individuals who are in the news.  The first few poems that she read were from a project that she is doing on gynecological experimentation and its impact on Black women's bodies.  Several were from the point of view of Joyce Heth, a slave whom P.T. Barnum had bought and exhibited as George Washington's nurse in 1835 and 1836.  Barnum claimed that she was 160; Ms. Heth was actually in her 70s.  (Below is a picture from a play, "The Exploitation of Joyce Heth," that was performed in New York.)

Another picture is one of Barnum's advertisements:

For more about Ms. Heth's story, see this link from George Mason University:

http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/jackson/5pts/museum/heth.html

Bettina Judd also read poems about more contemporary women.  One was the girl, Latasha Harlins, who was shot in the back of the head by a Korean-American store owner in 1991.  The relatively light sentence that the store owner received was one of the causes of the L.A. riots in 1992.  Having grown up in L.A. and its suburbs, Ms. Judd recalled the impact of Harlins' murder.  She added that at the time she had seen tapes of the shooting on TV.  Another startling poem was about a woman who was tortured and killed by her ex-lover.  A third was about a woman who lay dying and ignored in a NYC emergency ward.

As you can see, Ms. Judd's work is about the violence of history, especially as it affects Black women.  These poems are not for everyone.  Curiously, she read her poems in a soft, quiet voice, swallowing her words.  However, these were not poems for shouting and declaiming.  I would be interested in hearing her read in a different venue...but I was glad to see how packed the room was.

Oh yes...and Ms. Judd talked about *her* approach to writing poetry.  She discussed the projects that she works on.  The poems about gynecological experimentation actually came out of a series of watercolors that she had been working on.  She tries to write a poem a day, not worrying about whether that poem is good or bad.  It is "just" a draft, and she will continue to work on it.  This appears to be an approach that she has taken from the Cave Canem Poets.  Here is a link to their site!  (Caution:  This link has been broken some of the time, so...beware!)

http://cavecanempoets.org/

Here are some links to poems by Bettina Judd.  The first is "A Conversation After Teeth." 

http://penzitspronouncedpants.blogspot.com/2008/08/guest-pnz-conversation-after-teeth.html

Another is her poem, "Sankofa: Gender Bend."

http://www.torchpoetry.org/Fall%2007/bettinajudd.htm

Here is her MySpace page where you may listen to her read some poems, including "Sankofa."

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=199530233

And here is a link to her blog:

http://www.ablackgirl.com/wordpress/


Next up...the Poetry at Noon for World Peace Day on 9/22!

Field Trip for Fall 2008

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Just to let you know that you're invited to join my world literature class on our field trip to see an exhibit of Indian paintings at the Smithsonian.  (The picture above is an example of the type of work we will see.)  The field trip will be on Saturday, November 1.  For more information, check the link above.  Hope to see you there.  

Seamus Heaney

  Watch this space for an entry on Seamus Heaney & his poetry.

A Few Poems to Start With

Since our books may or may not be in by the time our semester starts, I thought that I'd post a few readings up here to begin with.  These poems will respond to the prompts I've posted on the discussion board.  In these poems, poets will introduce themselves, recall their first memories of language, and pay homage to earlier poets.  This homage may not be as elaborate as John Berryman's Homage to Mistress Bradstreet, but there are many ways to honor the past.

I will post links to seven poems.  Feel free to comment on any or all of them.  Some will be older than the poems in our anthology.  Others may be newer.

Let's start with Emily Dickinson's "I'm nobody.  Who are you?"

http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/2619.html

The picture below is from a site where you may listen to two of her poems set to music by Nancy Robinson.

http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/ngal/z-dickinson.htm

In Langston Hughes' "Theme for English B," the speaker might be introducing himself to a professor in his writing class at Columbia University.

http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~keith/poems/English_B.html

Below is a picture of Hughes a year or so after he left Columbia.  (He would eventually graduate from Lincoln University.)

Here is a link to "I am the woman," a poem by one of my former teachers, Joan Dobbie.  (I was in her workshop in Eugene, OR.)  The link contains the text version of the poem and a YouTube video of her reading her poem.  (By the way, you might notice that this poem really fits one of the prompts for our writing practice. Joan's poem was the one that gave me the idea for it!  Thanks, Joan!)

http://iamthewoman.blogspot.com/

Now I'd like to change the mood a little and move onto a poem about an unusual name.  How many of you remember reading Shel Silverstein's poetry?  One of the poems he wrote was "A Boy Named Sue."

http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/shel_silverstein/poems/14827

You may also know it as a song that Johnny Cash sang.  This YouTube video is of his performance at San Quentin Prison in California:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M89c3hWx3RQ

FYAmuse, here is a small picture of the cover of Shel Silverstein's album A Boy Named Sue.


Cheryl Savageau's "Looking for Indians" is kind of about language and kind of about one's name.  I thought that you might like to read it.

http://www.curbstone.org/bookexcerpt.cfm?BookID=69

Here is a little more information about the Abenaki.

http://www.native-languages.org/abenaki.htm

http://www.abenakination.org/

The Nicaraguan poet Ruben Dario wrote this tribute to Walt Whitman in 1887, when Whitman was still alive.  I'm afraid that I don't know the name of the translator.

http://falcon.tamucc.edu/~stalley/2335Resources/DarioWhitman.htm

Here is the original poem in Spanish:

http://www.poemas-del-alma.com/walt-whitman.htm

Interestingly, in English at least, the translation of Dario's blast against Theodore Roosevelt is more available than his homage to Whitman.

The poem below, Philip Levine's "M. Degas Teaches Art and Science at Durfee Intermediate School -- Detroit 1942," is not an homage to an earlier poet, but I thought that you would like it.  Moreover, this site includes an audio file of the poet reading his work.

http://www.ibiblio.org/ipa/poems/levine/m._degas_teaches_art_and_science_at_durfee_intermediate_school--detroit1942.php

In case you are not familiar with Edgar Degas' work, here is an example below:


Feel free to post your own responses to these poems at our discussion board or here.  Here are some questions, though, to start with.

-- Which of these poems are you reading for the first time?  What is your first impression of each poem and poet?

-- Which of these poems are you re-reading?  When did you first read this poem?  What jumped out at you then?  What jumps out at you now?

-- If you read Spanish, what jumped out at you as you read Ruben Dario's "Walt Whitman" in its original language?

-- What does Ruben Dario admire about Walt Whitman?  If you've read Whitman's work or know of him, how is Dario's Whitman different from yours?  How are they the same?

-- What kind of a teacher does M. Degas seem to be?  Which poet, painter, or musician would you imagine teaching at MC?  Why?

I'm looking forward to seeing what you have to say!

Translations of Petrarch

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I hope that you will enjoy this entry!

Poetry and Puritanism

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John Berryman, one of the poets we may read this semester, wrote Homage to Mistress Bradstreet, so I thought I'd post a link to my entry on her & her fellow Puritan poets.  The picture above is Ben Shahn's illustration that was on the cover of one edition of this poem.  Unfortunately, I can't find the right size image of that cover, so here is the illustration anyway.

And here's the link to Homage to Mistress Bradstreet:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=177880

Which surprising bygone poet would you write an homage to?

Ovid, Myths, and Epics

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Ovid is a poet and, specifically, the painter's poet, so I thought that I'd post a link to my EN 201 entry on the myths in his Metamorphoses.  The painting above is by Eugene Delacroix, and it depicts Ovid in exile.  (The Emperor Augustus exiled the poet from Rome.  Why?  There are a number of stories.)

I am also posting a picture from Mary Zimmerman's theatrical adaptation of the Metamorphoses.  Here Silenius the satyr is expressing his gratitude to King Midas for rescuing him.  I wish that MC would stage this play!!!

Mulan

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Did you know that Disney's Mulan is based on a Chinese poem, "The Ballad of Mulan"? 

Here are some translations of this anonymous poem:

http://www.chinapage.com/mulan-e.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hua_Mulan

http://www.yellowbridge.com/onlinelit/mulan.php

This page has more information about the poem itself, and you may also see the poem in Chinese.

http://home.pacific.net.hk/~shung/favorites/mulan.html

Here you may see a calligraphic (is that a word?) version of the poem:

http://www.chinapage.com/mulan.html

Upcoming Poetry at MC

  No, he's not reading at MC this semester...as far as I know...but I am surprised at how difficult it is to find a good lead picture for a blog entry announcing poetry readings.  I realize that we are an online class and that not everyone is available during the day, but I thought I'd announce a series of readings at the campus.  This series is run by our developmental writing program, but I am intending to attend at least one or two...and report on them here!

On Wednesday, Sept. 17 Bettina Judd will read and discuss her poetry.  Here's a link to her blog:  http://www.ablackgirl.com/index.html  One of her poems is "Gender Bend: Sankofa," Sankofa being an Adinkra symbol that means learning from the past.  Adinkra symbols come from Ghana, but you may have seen some of them in clothing or artwork or even tattoos.

http://www.torchpoetry.org/Fall%2007/bettinajudd.htm
 
More of her poetry is available at her MySpace site:  http://www.myspace.com/bettinajudd If you are interested in political poetry, poetry about the body, women's poetry, and African-American poetry, I encourage you to attend this reading...and/or explore her work.

On Wednesday, October 22 poet and memoirist E. Ethelbert Miller will be reading his work.  Some of you may have read his work or been to his readings, but here is a link to his website:

http://www.eethelbertmiller.com/

Here is his page at the Academy of American Poets' site:

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/485

You may also listen to him read poems about fatherhood at this site:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91531158

Or you may hear a minute of his poetry at this site:

http://aalbc.com/authors/jazz.htm

I found some pictures of E. Ethelbert Miller reading his poetry (where were these pictures an hour or two ago?!), but most were on Flicker.  Here is a picture that wasn't.  Below that is the cover of his memoir, Fathering Words, a book that I'd like to read soon.  I enjoy reading memoirs, especially when they are set in NYC.


On Wednesday, November 5, the Korean journalist, poet, and editor Yearn Hong Choi will be reading his poetry and essays at MC.  I'm glad to see that Korean culture will be getting more attention.  Here is a link to this poet's work:

http://www.poetswest.com/selected.htm

Also, this review of Surfacing Sadness, an anthology edited by Yearn Hong Choi, appeared in the KoreAm Journal:

http://www.koreamjournal.com/Magazine/index.php/kj/layout/set/print/content/view/print/659

Dr. Choi has more recently edited Fragrance of Poetry, an anthology of Korean-American poetry.  The VOA News interviewed him and two other poets whose work appears in this collection:

http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2005-09/2005-09-09-voa69.cfm





Then, on Wednesday November 19, Sylvia Lee, a visiting professor at MC, will read from her poems.  Here is a link to a set of her poems. http://www.damaya.net/poems/Jordan-Rome/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=51&Itemid=112

Here are some pictures from the Cornelia Street Cafe, the venue for a reading series that Prof. Lee co-curates.



Each of these readings take place from 9:30 to 10:20 and 11 to 11:50 at a site to be announced later.  Dr. Choi and Prof. Lee will also read from 1 to 1:50.

Nicaraguan Literature

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 See the link above for more about Nicaragua's poets, poetry, and performances!

More on Mirabai

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As promised, here is the link to the entry on Mirabai and her work!  Her poems are also song lyrics, and she was a devotee of the Hindu god Krishna.

Ono no Komachi

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I thought I'd add a link to an entry on the ninth-century Japanese poet, Ono no Komachi.  She is a wonderful, concise, and passionate poet who continues to intrigue the Japanese.

In the 19th century, the woodblock printer Ando Hiroshige and others depicted her in their work.

More recently playwrights have also depicted her.  Below is a scene from Aoi/Komachi, a performance of two of Yukio Mishima's plays.

Indian Music

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The picture above is from a bhajan (a type of Indian poetry) session at a festival in Mysore, India.  Here's a little more information about this festival:  http://www.dattapeetham.com/india/festivals/ganapati2004/ganapati2004.html

The link above is to a blog entry on Indian music that goes along with the entry on poet & lyricist Mirabai that I will post soon.  However, if you're not familiar with Indian music, you will need this background information before I post the entry on Mirabai and her poems. 

Gary Snyder's Reading at the Smithsonian

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Here's a link to my blog entry about Beat poet and translator Gary Snyder's recent reading in DC.  He is one of my favorite poets these days.  As you might imagine from the picture above, he writes about nature and is based out west in Northern California.  Enjoy!

An English Ph.D's 100 Years of Popular Music

  This spring, in my EN 202 class, we talked about the relationship between song lyrics and poetry...the impulse to create a canon, um, I mean a list of "Best Songs Ever," and one academic's campaign to award Bob Dylan a Nobel Prize for Literature.

Blame it on Richard Thompson & his 1000 Years of Popular Music. 

http://www.expressmilwaukee.com/article-748-from-medieval-madrigals-to-britney-spears.html

The list below is my husband (Ph.D., Indiana University)'s pop music canon...I mean...his 16 Best Songs Ever.  As he is old enough to remember when John Lennon was alive (or who he is), his list may be different from yours.  As he is younger than Richard Thompson, his list is also different from Mr. Thompson's.

Am not sure if these are in any particular order, but he is at work right now, so I won't check.

Number 1 is Anita O'Day and Roy Eldridge's "Let Me Off Uptown"  Below are two different versions, both blurry as they are from the mid-20th century.  Anita O'Day was that era's Amy Winehouse except that she survived and thrived until the age of 87.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoSAPaThWJE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQiFvTK-kNI

Here is a picture of her at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958.


Next is Aretha Franklin's "Spirit in the Dark."  Hooray for YouTube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3SBJ57H4yY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UV_LH1VrMo

Below is a picture of Ms. Franklin singing a duet of this song with Ray Charles. 
The Beatles come in third with "A Day in the Life" from the Sgt. Pepper Album.

http://www.last.fm/music/The+Beatles/_/A+Day+in+the+Life


  Number four is Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child."  Like Ono no Komachi, Ms. Holiday figures in many plays.  The actor in the second picture is Dawn P. Hope who looks a bit like Diana Ross in Lady Sings the Blues, a 1970s movie about Ms. Holiday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IYTx60s07A

http://www.last.fm/music/Billie+Holiday/_/God+Bless+the+Child



Song #5 is Bob Marley's "Redemption Song."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7pAvbjChQM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJHgMD1S0bg

Blossom Dearie follows at #6 with "A Fine Spring Morning."  Hmmm...I wonder what my husband's favorite kind of music is!!

http://www.last.fm/music/Blossom+Dearie/_/A+Fine+Spring+Morning

Ella Fitzgerald's song (#7) is "How High the Moon."  Her version of "Cottontail" is pretty awesome, too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXbXD2y_5ZY
http://www.last.fm/music/Ella+Fitzgerald/_/How+High+the+Moon

http://mp3vector.com/ella-fitzgerald/cottontail/download-mp3-track151966/

We zoom into the late 1970s with song #8--Elvis Costello's "Hand in Hand."  The picture below dates from that era, too.  I've seen Costello in concert recently, and he is very jovial looking.

http://www.last.fm/music/Elvis+Costello/_/Hand+in+Hand

  Also from the 1970s...1974...to be exact is our #9 song...Joni Mitchell's "Same Situation."

http://artists.letssingit.com/joni-mitchell-lyrics-same-situation-z753j43

We zip back to the 1950s with King Pleasure's "Parker's Mood for Love" at #10.

http://www.last.fm/music/King+Pleasure/_/Parker's+Mood

King Pleasure is actually one man and not a band.  However, I can't find a picture of him.

Here's "Cottontail" at #11.  This isn't Ella's version; it's by Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross, a group from the late 1950s & early 1960s.  Recently, I saw Jon Hendricks in concert.  At 80+, he is still in good voice and can still fit into his WWII uniform. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3vf-XOAILw


Louis Armstrong appears at #12 with "Basin St. Blues."  YouTube never ceases to amaze me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GuDExkBmnU

  Would you believe that a very recent song has made it to #13?  OK, it's Nellie McKay's "Ding Dong."  Does she count?  Take a listen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXYgziSxxt8

Ms. McKay is quite charming and quirky live.

The 1980s ring in with...Paul Simon's "Graceland" at #14.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtT7Og2LBbE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXgQtL3aEmQ


Ack!  Another 1980s song at #15.  But it's okay.  It's "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" by The Talking Heads, a group that I wish that I had paid more attention to back in the day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68KLZCVFDQI

And , finally, from 2000 is #16..."It Doesn't Matter" with Wyclef Jean, the Rock, and Melky Sedeck.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vmv--UJ3eJM



Enjoy!