Thursday, October 20
A Reading by the Academy of American Poets Chancellors
7:00-9:15 p.m.
Join us for an unforgettable evening as award-winning poets from across the U.S. who serve as Chancellors of the Academy of American Poets come together on one stage to share their poems. Featuring Elizabeth Alexander, Mark Doty, Linda Gregerson, Juan Felipe Herrera, Brenda Hillman, Jane Hirshfield, Khaled Mattawa, Marilyn Nelson, Alicia Ostriker, Claudia Rankine, Alberto Ríos, Arthur Sze, and Anne Waldman.
Friday, October 21
Chancellor Converations
POETS ON POETRY: Linda Gregerson, Alicia Ostriker, and Alberto Ríos
12:35-1:40 p.m.
To paraphrase Gerald Stern, poets are readers who occasionally stop reading long enough to write something down. In these sessions, Academy Chancellors talk about their vital relationship to poetry as readers and artists. They may address their understanding of poetry, their experience of becoming a poet and how individual poems—both those written by themselves and others—have contributed to that process.
POETRY AND ACTIVISM: Juan Felipe Herrera, Brenda Hillman, Khaled Mattawa, and Anne Waldman
2:00-3:00 p.m.
Ezra Pound wrote, “Poetry is news that stays news.” Academy Chancellors will explore the unique ways in which poets and poems help express, document, and translate current events. In what ways do the roles of poet and activist intersect? How does the poetry community engage with social issues?
MAKING A LIFE IN POETRY: Elizabeth Alexander, Mark Doty, Jane Hirshfield, Alicia Ostriker
3:20-4:20 p.m.
What’s the difference between wanting to be a poet and choosing to make a life in poetry? The real challenges may be about a lot more than writing poems. How does the culture we live in influence our notions of how this is or isn’t possible, or the validity of such a choice? How do we make a life in poetry? Is writing poetry, or wanting to be published, a requirement?
Saturday, October 22
Chancellor Conversations
THE POETIC LINE: Mark Doty, Linda Gregerson, Jane Hirshfield, and Arthur Sze
12:30-1:40 p.m.
The poetic sentence is one of the most emphasized elements of form. It is a unit of time, of perception, of thought, a choreography or orchestration of words. Academy Chancellors will discuss the syntax of the line, and how it can indicate patterns in meter, rhythm, and rhyme, influencing the aesthetics and emphases of the poem.
AMERICAN POETRIES: Brenda Hillman, Khaled Mattawa, Claudia Rankine, Anne Waldman
2:00-3:10 p.m.
Adrienne Rich wrote there is no such thing as an “American Poetry.” Instead, there are American Poetries, so many divergent schools that no single style or aesthetic can be singled out as the definitively “American” one. Academy Chancellors consider what we gain from this diversity and by listening more closely to each other.
THE ROLE OF THE POET LAUREATE: LOCAL AND BEYOND:
Juan Felipe Herrera (Poet Laureate of the U.S.), Marilyn Nelson (Former Poet Laureate of Connecticut), and Alberto Ríos (Poet Laureate of Arizona), and Arthur Sze (Former Poet Laureate of Santa Fe, NM)
3:30-4:30 p.m.
Academy Chancellors who have served or currently serve as a Poet Laureate discuss the exciting local and national projects they have initiated through their laureateships, as well as the responsibilities that come with these honorary positions.
Other poets featured at the Dodge Poetry Festival include Fatimah Asghar, C. Bain, Robin Becker, Bryan Borland, Mahogany L. Browne, Nickole Brown, Christian Campbell, Marilyn Chin, Billy Collins, Nicole Terez Dutton, Martín Espada, Jonterri Gadson, Celeste Gainey, Roberto Carlos Garcia, Laurie Ann Guerrero, Ellen Hagan, Robert Hass, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Michael Klein, Rickey Laurentiis, Li-Young Lee, Stephanie Lenox, Robin Coste Lewis, Marty McConnell, Yesenia Montilla, Tanya Olson, Emilia Phillips, Katha Pollitt, Kay Ryan, Sam Sax, Tim Seibles, Vijay Seshadri, Safiya Sinclair, Aaron Smith, Gary Snyder, Vincent Toro, and R.A. Villanueva.
For more information please visit dodgepoetry.org.