Loading...
Loading...
Photo by Frank Magalhães
Poetry in Princeton
April is National Poetry Month and in Princeton this means a new issue of U.S.1 Worksheets, the (now) annual poetry journal of U.S.1 Poets’ Cooperative. Last Sunday, April 3, the community room of the Princeton Public Library was packed to capacity, as poets gathered to celebrate the arrival of Volume 56 of U.S.1 Worksheets, featuring the work of 98 local and regional poets.
“Sunday’s event was the gathering one hopes for ‑ a kind of electricity created by a room full of talented and creative people,” said managing editor Nancy Scott, who has guided the journal through seven issues and given it a cohesive look over that time, taking it from a staple stitched format to perfect binding and featuring fine art photography on its cover – this year provided by Frank Magalhães, from his“Hands” series.
“Not only has the journal attracted some well-established poets, but we’ve been able to create a regional community where contributors look forward to getting together to share their work,” said Scott. “Combine that with good food, a great looking book, and finely-honed poems and something magical happened. It was truly a ‘Happening’!”
Indeed it was. Some 60 contributors – almost two thirds of those featured in the journal ‑ rose to read Quaker-style, as moved by the spirit to do so. They read their own works and those of poets not in attendance. Since the journal has become increasingly more regional in recent years, some had come significant distances to do so. Sharon Olsen, down from Connecticut, read her “Genealogy at the Store, Even,” which elicited guffaws of laughter from her peers. Danita Geltner from New York City read her poem “Being a City Girl, I Screamed,” the ‘killer’ ending of which elicited an intake of breath from the audience. Bucks County poet Marie Kane, a teacher for almost 30 years, shared her experiences with student writers in her rueful, “What Was Important About Yesterday?” Paul Sohar, from Warren in North Jersey, presented his translation of a poem by the Hungarian poet Zyllah Zala and Don Kloss from Burlington in South Jersey read a eye-brow raising tribute to his ride, “My Darling, My Hot Rod,” conjuring images of Corvettes and other sexy things.
This year’s journal is an eclectic selection of work on themes ranging from the whimsical to the sorrowful, from the nostalgic to the hilarious.
Besides her own poem, “The River,” – a loving tribute to her husband John Bourne ‑ Adele Bourne read this delightful and gently mocking short work by her husband titled, “At the Haiku Convention.” It reads: “Short poets scurry about/like ants on solitary errands./ Each carries a tiny packet‑/a moonbeam here, a cricket there,/always careful to follow the rules:/one, two, three, epiphany!”
U.S.1 Poets’ Cooperative is one of the nation’s longest continuously operating poetry groups. It’s been going strong since 1973 ‑ much longer than National Poetry Month itself, which was introduced by the Academy of American Poets in 1996 and celebrated in April since 1999. As a member of both groups (and, I should mention, one of three selecting editors for this year’s journal as well as volumes 55 and 54), this month’s deep immersion in the art is a joy.
The Academy has tapped Thursday, April 14 as “Poem In Your Pocket Day.” So pick a poem to unfold from your pocket and share with your colleagues at work, friends you meet in the street or coffee shop, neighbors and kids. You won’t be alone.
To help select a poem, visit www.us1poets.com where U.S.1 Worksheets can be purchased for $8 plus postage; or check out www.yourdailypoem.com where the motto is “a poem a day keeps the doldrums away.”
Diverse delights to come in and around Princeton this month (see listing below) include readings by local poets, an art show of poetry-inspired work, a walk though nature in the company of native American poet and storyteller Joseph Bruchac and, the grande finale, the biennial Princeton Poetry Festival sponsored by Princeton University on April 29 and April 30.
Poetry and Spring. What better coupling?
(Sorry couldn’t resist, sometimes the rhymer in me gets the upper-hand.)
Some other Poetry “Happenings” This Month
Thursday, April 7, 8 p.m.: Bucks County Poet Laureate Lorraine Henrie Lins will read from her newly published Finishing Line Press chapbookI Called It Swimming and other selectionsat Farley’s Bookshop, 44 South Main Street, New Hope, Pa 18938.
Friday, April 8, noon: Lois Marie Harrod of U.S.1 Poets’ Cooperative and a member of the Cool Women group will read from her new book Brief Term at a launch party/reception andbenefit hosted by the Princeton Senior Resource Center in room 2 of the Suzanne Patterson Center, 45 Stockton Street, Princeton, NJ 08540. Harrod’s book features entertaining narratives from her life as a teacher and a portion of each sale benefits PSRC. For more, visit: www.loismarieharrod.com
Saturday, April 9, 4-7 p.m.: Poets will read their own work, which has inspired local artists, at an opening reception for the exhibition, “Art Inspired by Poetry,” sponsored by the Lawrenceville Main Street Artists Network at their Gallery, 2683 Main Street, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648. For more information, call (609) 512-1359; or visit: www.lmsartistsnetwork.com
Sunday, April 10, 3 p.m.:(Yours truly) Linda Arntzenius will read poems of her Scottish childhood at the invitation of the English-Speaking Union in the Kirby Arts Center at Lawrenceville School, 2500 Main Street (Rte. 206), Lawrenceville, NJ 08648. The $5 admission benefits the E-SU and includes refreshments.
Monday, April 11, 7:30 pm:Tony Gruenwaldand Bob Rosenbloomare the featured readers for Poets at the Library, by the fireside on the second floor of the Princeton Public Library, 65 Witherspoon Street, Princeton, NJ 08542. An open mic follows two 20-minute readings. For more information, contact Janie Hermann, (609) 924-9529 x228
Friday, April 15, from 4:30 p.m.:Native American (Abenaki) poet Joseph Bruchac will accompany visitors on the Scott and Hella McVay Poetry Trail at Greenway Meadows Park, D&R Greenway Land Trust, One Preservation Place, off Rosedale Road, Princeton 098540. The walk will be followed by a reception and book signing at 6 p.m. and a reading by Bruchac at 7 p.m. To register, call 609-924-4646. For more information, visit www.josephbruchac.com, and www.drgreenway.org
Friday, April 15, 5 p.m.:Karl Kirchway will readas part of the Thinking Allowed series co-sponsored by the Princeton Public Library and Princeton University Press in the community room on the Library’s ground floor, 65 Witherspoon Street, Princeton, NJ 08542. Poet and former director of the Unterberg Poetry Center of the 92nd Street Y, Kirchway is currently a professor at Bryn Mawr College,a book reviewer, literary curator and advocate for writers and writing. For more information, visit: www.princetonlibrary.org/
Friday/Saturday, April 29/30, 2 p.m.: The Princeton Poetry Festival returns with readings and discussions featuring Princeton faculty and invited poets Anthony Carelli, Mark Doty, Kathleen Graber, Paolo Henriques Britto, Brian Henry, Agi Mishol, Idra Novey, Sharon Olds, Carl Phillips, Charles Simic, Ales Steger and Natasha Trethewey in Richardson Auditorium. For advance tickets, call University Ticketing at (609) 258-9220.
About the Author
Linda Arntzenius has been a freelance writer for over two decades. In Princeton, her byline appears in such publications as The Princeton Packet, Town Topics, and Princeton Magazine. She is a member of the Princeton Research Forum and author of Images of America: Institute for Advanced Study, a pictorial history of the intellectual home of Einstein, Oppenheimer, von Neumann et al.
