If you are going out Beware of mangoes And all such beautiful sweet things. —Victor Hernandez Cruz Mango on Tree (USDA) Click here to read an EXCELLENT interview with Victor Hernandeze Cruz on The Poetry Foundation site. Here are some excerpts of questions to whet your appetite: You don’t write what many would call autobiographical…
Milou, a 9 year old student from Buenos Aires, put up this blog as a place to share poems for e World Poetry Day (March 21st). On the blog “students, kids and poets, writers and artists from all over the world post a contribution for Earth Day.” Click here to see what they posted to…
HOMEWORK LINKS 1) Click here to read Obi Nwakanma’s article “Nigeria: A Soyinka Symposium in Carbondale” published in the Vanguard (Lagos) WOLE Soyinka, one of Africa’s leading modernist voices excites a following that is both cultic and diffuse. 2) Also, check out Eyinju Odumare’s photos and commentary “All for Soyinka in Carbondale” ———————— “Culture dialogues…
Earlier this year Nigerian poet Obi Nwakanma filled my Gathering Room with talk that made the world right for the hours he shared himself and conversation. We exchanged poetry books at the end of our time together. I sent some of Daniel’s hardworking roses home for Obi’s wife. In the days that followed our encounter,…
Wole Soyinka HOMEWORK LINKS 1) Hear Soyinka’s rolling baritone, relaxed, just chatting, sharing wisdom First, let me give you a link to a 1998 conversation between Harry Kreisler and Wole Soyinka that took place in Berkeley, California as part of the “Conversations with History” series. What is said is still fresh today, AND you’ll get…
“The Lion and the Jewel” written by Wole Soyinka, directed by Ron Himes and presented by the Washington University Performing Arts Department, opened tonightat Washington University’s Edison Theatre in St Louis, Missouri. The play continues through April 27th. The Washington University Performing Arts Department describes the dance-drama cum social satire like this:Wole Soyinka, Nobel Laureate…
This morning I felt a familiar sensation in a totally unexpected place: an EARTHQUAKE (5.2 as it turns out), but in the Midwest, not Northern California, where earthquakes had become so common as not to be remarked upon. In California, pundits were always warning of California falling off into the ocean. Hey, maybe the country…
Photo by Eden Maxwell, from the Tibetan Museum on Staten Island His Holiness the Dalai Lama is joined at this event by four distinguished panelists. In addition to the interaction of the panelists, you’ll see short videos on the panelists’ work. Here’s the link for April 11, 2008 session (9-11 PST) at University of Washington,…
Photo by Y. Magier This story emerged in my father’s memory as we had our morning telephone chat. When Pop came to the part where Harrold had his feet up on the desk, he said, with a glint of mischief in his voice: “He did not look to be gainfully employed.” This is so typical…
When I lived in Northern California, one of my great treats was to hear Gary Snyder perform his poetry with musicians in a cozy old-fashioned theatre…and another time….to hear him read and speak at the University of California at Davis. What remains of his presence for me is a sense of dignity…integrity…and a man of…