WXXI Poetry Moments 2011

A partnership with BOA Editions, celebrating 35 years of independent publishing

April is National Poetry Month, and WXXI is pleased to partner with Rochester New York based BOA Edition for this series of Poetry Moments, which will air at 9:30 a.m. and 6:58 p.m. on Classical 91.5, 90.3 and 91.5 HD, and at 9:49 a.m. and 7:29 p.m. on AM 1370 and FM 91.5-2.

Listen to the series:

From Blossoms by Li-Young Lee, read by Boo Poulin

Airs on Sunday, April 10, 2011

Li-Young Lee was born in Indonesia, to Chinese parents. In 1959 the family fled the country and settled in the United States in 1964, where Lee attended the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Arizona, and the SUNY Brockport. Lee’s writing is influenced by classic Chinese poets, and is filled with themes of simplicity, strength, and silence. From Blossoms comes from his first book of poetry, Rose, which has sold over 100,000 copies and been reprinted 30 times.

Image from Flickr by Big Yellow House

Anniversary by Cecilia Woloch, read by Cindy Rogers

Airs on Monday, April 11, 2011

Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate from 2004-2006, said of this poem, “Memories form around details the way a pearl forms around a grain of sand, and in this commemoration of an anniversary, Cecilia Woloch reaches back to grasp a few details that promise to bring a cherished memory forward, and succeeds in doing so.” Cecilia Woloch is the author of five collections including two from BOA Editions: Carpathia (2009) and Late (2003). An NEA Fellowship recipient, she is a lecturer in the creative writing program at the University of Southern California, and founding director of The Paris Poetry Workshop.

Image from Flickr by Dave Durden

Transubstantiation by Christopher Kennedy, read by Jonathan Everitt

Airs on Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Christopher Kennedy’s prose poems are always as jarringly off-beat as they are hauntingly familiar and strangely beautiful. Kennedy brings his self-effacing American humor to a historically European style of writing, thus delivering us poems, as Kennedy writes, that feel like, “falling, then flying, falling, then flying.” Christopher Kennedy is Director of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Syracuse University. His first book by BOA Editions, Encouragement for a Man Falling to His Death (2007) won the Isabella Gardner Poetry Award. His new BOA Editons book, Ennui Prophet, was just published.

Image from Flickr by Sha Sha Chu

My Friend’s Divorce by Naomi Shihab Nye, read by Bernadette Catalana

Airs on Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Bill Moyers said of Naomi Shihab Nye, “Eight years ago, recovering from heart surgery I found deep comfort in poetry, especially the poems of Naomi Shihab Nye. Her poems speak of ordinary things, things we take for granted until it’s almost too late.” Whether addressing world conflicts or domestic strife, Naomi Shihab Nye never forgets that if we are to understand larger issues, we must stay focused on the smallest details. Naomi Shihab Nye has lived in St. Louis, Jerusalem, and now with her own family in San Antonio, Texas. One of America’s most beloved poets, her newest BOA collection, Transfer, will be published in September 2011.

Image from Flickr by Cape Cod Cyclist

Fourth of July by Keejte Kuipers, read byJulia Walsh Postler

Airs on Thursday, April 14, 2011

Fourth of July was written while the poet was living off the grid in Southwestern Oregon, in a cabin two hours down a dirt road from the nearest town. Having just broken up with the doomed lover in the poem, Keetje Kuipers, “drank that six-pack by myself, barbecued a whole chicken, and then shot the gun off my porch in lieu of fireworks.” And then she wrote this poem, which appeared in her A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize-winning first book, Beautiful in the Mouth (BOA, 2010). She will be in Rochester this September to read her poetry at BOA’s annual Dine & Rhyme celebration.

Image from Flickr by Camera Slayer

Blessing the Boats by Lucille Clifton, read by Peter Conners

Airs on Friday, April 15, 2011

Lucille Clifton was recipient of the biggest poetry awards in America including the National Book Award, the Frost Medal, and the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize. On a more intimate basis, she was known as a passionate teacher who held the title of Distinguished Professor of Humanities at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. This poem was commissioned by St. Mary’s College and is now inscribed on the wall of their campus center so that students see it on their way to the dining hall. The poem will be included in BOA’s September 2012 title, The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton, edited by Kevin Young and Michael Glaser, with a Foreword by Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison.

Image from Flickr by David Wulff

Apples by Michael Waters, read by Jack Langerak

Airs on Saturday, April 16, 2011

In the poet’s own words, “An only child, I was haunted by the impending death of my parents. I mean Apples to be a love poem to my father.” Michael Waters’ ninth book of poetry, Gospel Nights, will be published by BOA Editions in September 2011. He will be in Rochester this September to read his poetry at BOA’s annual Dine & Rhyme celebration.

Image from Flickr by iMaffo

BOA is celebrating 35 years of independent publishing this year. You’ll find more information at www.boaeditions.org.