Here it is May, so why an article on poetry when April is National Poetry Month? Well, Poetry Month has only been in effect since 1996, and poetry itself goes back somewhat longer.
But seriously, I was curious about the effect of the designated month on local poets and publishers. Is the Academy of American Poets meeting its goals of making poetry a part of the fabric of American life, or is this the apparent flurry of poetic activity something that only affects librarians, teachers and booksellers?
I talked to David Horowitz, founder of the University District’s Rose Alley Press, for his perspective: “I have mixed feelings. Every moment of my life, I feel devoted, grateful and humbled to be a part of the ongoing endeavor that is poetry,” he said. “Most people do not share this commitment, so they may need a special event to spark their interest. So while it doesn’t mean much to me, National Poetry Month does engender interest in those who don’t ordinarily care for it. In that, it does some good, but I don’t like the way some people are able to turn poetry on and off.”
This seems to be a recurring problem with the way the arts are often packaged as special events or festivals. As the song goes, “To everything there is a season” — when that season ends, so does the public interest in whatever is being celebrated.
As we wave goodbye to April’s poetry, we now smile hello to May and the plethora of movies about to be brought to us by the Seattle International Film Festival.
A year-round schedule
But poetry is not subject to the calendar whims of appointment-setting arts commissioners.
Horovitz schedules many of his readings at the end of March and the beginning of April to avoid the cluster of events that often conflict and compete with each other on the April calendar.
He uses a few methods to excite sufficient interest in the audience for his readings so they will return to his store at a later date.
“One thing I do is buy a stack of $5 gift cards from various bookstores and hand them out as prizes for trivia questions,” he explained. “Hopefully, they will return to the store in May or June to redeem their gift card and realize that poetry is an ongoing concern, not just an annual showcase.
“For me, nothing changes between April and May,” Horowitz continued. “If you see me in April, you see me as I am all year.”
The same can be said for Georgia McDade, a retired teacher whose first book of poetry, “Outside the Cave,” was published in 2009. McDade is a charter member of the African-American Writer’s Alliance, a group that meets on the third Saturday of every month from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Columbia Library, 4721 Rainier Ave S.
“National Poetry Month is an extraordinary invention,” she said. “Those of us who regularly read and write poetry know what poetry does for us: calms, sparks, spurs, enlightens, enrages, etc. We want to spread the phenomenon, hope to convince others to write poetry so they, too, can realize what power there is in a pen and how they can contribute to making of the world a better place or, at least, positively alter their places in the world.”
That said, the African-American Writer’s Alliance, which has seen more than 200 writers come though its doors since its inception in 1991, did nothing special for the month.
“We read and write year-round!” McDade exclaimed. “We take part in festivals, [read at] bookstores and taverns — you name it, we have read there. We have read at Elliott Bay bookstore for 20 consecutive years, which is longer than any other group in Seattle.”
Writing, reading from the heart
This group was founded when Randee Eddins moved to Seattle from California and was shocked that there was no group here for African-American writers. The writers groups she found were predominantly white, and for a variety of reasons, Randy never felt like she fit into any of them.
So she started this group, which welcomes members at all levels — from absolute beginners to published professionals — and doesn’t impose any formalities upon the meetings.
“The best thing we do is let people read whatever they have written,” McDade said. “Some people want feedback, and others just want to read.”
Both Horovitz and McDade believe in the universal application of poetry as a way to free humanity from the material constrictions of everyday life.
“I believe in the power of eloquence to inspire meaningful introspection and exploration in ordinary people,” Horovitz said. To achieve this, he explained, “the poet must cultivate a fearless, uncensored imagination so as to willingly explore that which might terrify more conventional people.”
“It is not that writers are smarter than others, “ McDade added. “I just think we observe better, and we go one step further. We take the time to record our observations.”
The African-American Writer’s Alliance is currently soliciting poems from its members on the theme of “My America” for a poetry/dance performance in July called ‘Poetry Plus Motion.’ The subject is relevant for McDade, who said, “Some of us, when we think of ‘My America,’ it just ain’t the same as [Republican presidential candidate Mitt] Romney’s America.”
Although she enjoys the occasions when the group focuses on a singular theme, McDade emphasized that, “Most of the time, nobody tells us what to write about.”
McDade is now editing her second volume of poetry, and Horovitz’s new collection, “Sky Above the Temple” is due for publication in mid-May.
BILL WHITE was a regular contributor to the arts section of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer until its demise in 2009. He most recently was the film critic for Seattle PostGlobe. E-mail him at bwhi51@yahoo.com.