Poetic inspiration

A poet friend once said to me "Everyone hates poetry." I found that sad but realized I never read much. I often find poems too abstract or inaccessible in some way. I now try to read the poems in The New Yorker. I still don't really get some of them but I was fond of one called "The Adventures of 79 Charles Street" by Philip Schultz about an apartment building in NYC. Great characters and settings. It's from a collection called Failure, which was anything but. It won the Pulitzer for poetry this year.

You don't have to write poetry to be inspired by it. Just soak up the rhythms, images and word play.

Anyway, the event below looks like it could be fun. (About a ten minute walk from the Harvard Red Line T stop.) Also, if you read the excellent The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl, some of the story's action takes place in the Longfellow House. Note - this is something one of my BU students could cover for their news story.

Finally, while your there, walk down to Harvard Square and visit the Grolier Poetry Bookshop. Check the hours first.

http://www.grolierpoetrybookshop.org/


Longfellow Student Poetry Awards Date: September 14, 2008
Time: 2:00 PM
Location: Longfellow National Historic Site - 105 Brattle Street - Cambridge - MA

Details:

Longfellow Student Poetry Awards with Poets Charles Coe, Sam Cornish and Peter Payack

Singer-poet Charles Coe, Boston Poet Laureate Sam Cornish, and Cambridge Poet Populist Peter Payack read excerpts from their poetry and greet student winners from the greater Boston area who will read their original poems. The New England Poetry Club and Friends of the Longfellow House co-sponsor this annual contest.

Fees:Free and open to the public.

Contact:Longfellow National Historic Site
(617) 876-4491