April has been celebrated as
National Poetry Month in the U.S. since 1996. Some years, the weather inevitably brings to mind T. S. Eliot's declaration about "
the cruelest month." But with the welcome sunshine in Brooklyn so far this April, we all feel ready, in James Wright's words, to "
break / into blossom."
Fort Greene has a pretty impressive poetic pedigree, with residents from Walt Whitman and Marianne Moore to Colin Channer and Irving Feldman (whom I quoted in
my very first post on this blog; he kindly emailed later to let me know he went to school at Brooklyn Tech and has fond memories of the neighborhood.)
There's plenty of National Poetry Month action going on in the neighborhood. As our trusty
New York Times blog
The Local points out, the
Fort Greene Park Conservancy is holding an open mic at the Richard Wright bench at the top of the park, at 1 p.m. every Saturday in April.
And at Greenlight, we're celebrating Poetry Month in a number of ways. First thing in our front door, you'll see our Poetry Month table, with wonderful collections from masters like Elizabeth Alexandar, Anne Carson, Tina Chang, Billy Collins, Kay Ryan, Tupac Shakur, Dylan Thomas, Kevin Young, and others. The selection changes from week to week, and you'll find lots more in our poetry section.
And our events calendar reflects an emphasis on poetry this month as well. We're emphasizing the performative aspects of the art, poetry's potential to inspire young people, and our own local poetic talent -- but there's sure to be something for everyone. Here are a few highlights -- we hope you'll join us to share the joy of poetry.
- Jessica
Friday, April 23, 7:30 PMBrooklyn Poet Laureate Tina Chang hosts the poets of Ronald Edmonds Learning Center (MS113)Award-winning poet
Tina Chang was recently named Poet Laureate of Brooklyn by Borough President Marty Markowitz. One of Chang’s initiatives as Laureate is the Adopt-A-Poet Project, in which published poets bring the craft and appreciation of poetry into the borough’s middle schools. Chang launches the project this evening with a reading by the students of Fort Greene’s own
Ronald Edmonds Learning Center (MS 113), who have been working with her on their own poems this month. Join us to hear from Brooklyn’s budding poetic talents, hosted by our own poet laureate.
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Sunday, April 25, 7:30 PM
Akashic Books presents Poets of the Calabash Festival reading from So Much things to Say: 100 Calabash Poets
Featuring poets Amiri Baraka, Colin Channer, Justine Henzell, Willie Perdomo, Aracelis Girmay, Cheryl Boyce Taylor, Everton Sylvester, Linda Susan Jackson, Terese Svoboda, Meena Alexander, Ishion Hutchinson & Valynza Mort
Introduction by Paul Holdengraber, Director of Public Programs at the New York Public LibraryThe
Calabash International Literary Festival, which takes place in Jamaica each May, is a world-class three-day festival of readings and music that draws outstanding poets from all over the world, and especially from the Caribbean diaspora. Brooklyn independent publisher
Akashic Books has been a long-time supporter of Calabash, and now presents So Much Things to Say: 100 Calabash Poets, an anthology of poets who have read at the festival over the years, with all profits from the sale of the book to be donated to Calabash. Greenlight is proud to host some of those poets tonight, representing our own Brooklyn poetry culture and the broad range of talents who are drawn to Calabash. Colin Channer will start things off with some appropriate music, and the NYPL's own Paul Holdengraber will introduce the evening.
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Friday, April 30, 7:00 PM
Youth Open Mic for High School and College Performance PoetsHosted by Mo BeasleyHigh school and college students are invited to show off their slammin’ poetic skills at Greenlight Bookstore’s first ever open mic night! Host
Mo Beasley is an award-winning Brooklyn performance poet, spoken word artist, published playwright, educator, and recording artist. He has featured at legendary stages from the Blue Note to the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, and teaches performance poetry to high school students. Beasley will MC this evening’s open mic, which is open ONLY to performances by poets from 9th grade to college seniors, though all ages are invited to attend. Signup for the open mic begins at 7:00 PM, and performances will begin at 7:30.
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Brooklynite and lifelong urban dweller Manny Howard took the locavore / urban farmer movement to the extreme: he created a farm in his eight-hundred-square-foot backyard in Flatbush, with the goal of subsisting only on what he could produce on this farm for at least a month (in spite of his wife’s dismay and his own skepticism of the trend).
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