Get ready for the symposium of your life, because on March 4-5, Berkeley is hosting a symposium to “explore 400 rich years of African American nature writing, as evidenced in a new, first-ever anthology of nature poetry by black writers.”

Some may think that African-American nature writing is not very common, but, well, that’s just plain wrong. Cecil Giscombe, African-American poet and UCB English prof, explains it this way: “Nature is everywhere in writing, yet public presentations of writing about nature tend to cast it as something that white writers do.”

He and countless other poets, writers, and academics (including our own Carolyn Finney and Robert Hass) will discuss black writers’ contributions to nature writing starting March 4 at noon at the weekly Lunch Poems program. The symposium will continue with evening readings and discussion panels later that day and on March 5.

This is also about going green in a diverse and meaningful way. As Finney states,

“Diversity programs must do more than simply invite people of different cultural backgrounds to the table. They must be willing to let go of the assumption that their view of the environment is a universal one, and be ready to collaborate with people to create new ways of framing and thinking about the environment.”

Well when it comes to going green, God knows we’ll need all the help we can get. This symposium line-up is impressive, the topic is intriguing, and it should shed some light on the past as well as our (ideally) greener future. So stop dawdling and RSVP here.

Image source: B@ni under Creative Commons
Symposium to explore black nature writers [UC Berkeley News]

Thursday’s event is the first in this year’s series of “noontime poetry readings,” which takes place every year in one of our favorite places on campus, the Morrison Reading Room in Doe Library. We’re not going to lie–we’ve never heard of some of the poets who are reading in upcoming months, but you may have.

So cozy up on the nicest couches in Berkeley and experience your English lecturers–and trust us, they’ve probably been your English lecturers–like you’ve never experienced them before.

Image Source: Lottery Monkey under Creative Commons
Lunch Poems [UC Berkeley Library]

We’re a little bit late reporting, but we thought this was too Clog-worthy to just forget about. The Junkyard Ghost Revival, a group of three national and world multi-champion poets graced the stage of Wheeler last Thursday as part of a poetic whirlwind tour across America (yep, even Alaska). Their flyer promised “the ultimate plugged in spoken word experience” and their website describes them as a “verbal circus.” So basically we imagined poetry, music, maybe some juggling.

What we didn’t expect was poetry that sounded more like Broadway, miniature piano accompaniment and an explanation of how to play “Sandwich Karate.” The show started off with some poems by various Cal Slam champs then quickly transformed into something we can only call a “poetry theater,” with a seamless musical and poetic fusion. At one point the audience was even invited to partake in a “30 second dance party” in their seats.

Eventually the poetry theater transformed into more of a poetic stand-up improv show with “poetry sketches” like imaginary theme songs for nonexistent cartoons, one-line poems and anecdotes from their experience touring the nation. Overall, the show was basically like the Saturday Night Live of spoken word poetry, except there was not one mention of Sarah Palin.

Derrick Brown – Solomon Sparrows Electric Whale Revival [YouTube]
Junkyard Ghost Revival [Web site]

On Thursday, Sept. 4, poets from the English department will read their own works in the first Holloway Series event of the 2008-2009 school year. The poets will include Cecil Giscombe, Robert Hass, Lyn Hejinian, Geoffrey G. O’Brien and John Shoptaw. Earlier this year, Hass won the Pulitzer Prize for his work “Time and Materials.”

The reading commences at 6:30 p.m. in the Maude Fife room, located at 315 Wheeler Hall. The event is free, and the poets are award-winning and astounding, so we urge you to grab a friend and lend them your ears.

Image Source: surrealmuse under Creative Commons
Thursday, September 04, 2008 [Department of English Calendar]

Voices of Nations Arts Foundations (VONA), a nurturing space created for published and unpublished “hardcore” writers, hosted this program. All writers fell under one of four structured groups: memoir, poetry, fiction and political content. Cal third-year Binly Phounsiri and fourth-year Jude Dizon were among the small handful of promising poets who were hand-selected from a nationwide pool of applicants to take part in this opportunity.

Friday night served as a showcase exhibition of sorts. By the time we arrived at the cramped, cozy lounge venue that evening, we were forced to cop a comfy squat halfway between the door and the marvelous hors d’oeuvres buffet. Word-artists read their workshopped pieces aloud in a classic, show-and-tell fashion to absorbed audience members. Writers shared with us anything from funny commentary and tall tales to painful memories and life lessons.

One petite mother from Hawaii brought the entire room to tears with her memoir about her daughter who recently passed while serving our country. A teenaged girl had her mother accompany her in reading an original screenplay about the trials of a young girl’s coming out. A personal favorite of the night, though, came from one middle-aged man’s simple conjecture that one who “finds joy in waiting for the toast to pop up will never be sad”.

We laughed, we cried, we grabbed our hearts when we felt we could take no more. Talent resonated throughout the room that evening–the fine-tuning guided by faculty and peers really helped to put these pieces over the top.

We certainly hope to hear more from VONA and perhaps even the rising stars whose paths we crossed that night. Until then, we’ll continue to search Berkeley and San Francisco for nights of free expression, free entertainment and of course, free food.

Image Source: katmere under Creative Commons
The Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation [Website]

Hass previously picked up the National Book Award for his most recent work, and now he can add a booty of $10,000 to his growing recognition. He is the third current UC Berkeley professor to win the Pulitzer (the two others include history professor Leon Litwack and former J-School dean Ben Bagdikian).

This semester, Hass teaches English 131: American Poetry and a poetry translation workshop, which he will again lead in the fall semester.

There’s also a webcast (though fairly dated, from 2003) of him reading his poetry before “Time and Materials.”

Image Source: Steve Rhodes under Creative Commons
Robert Hass wins Pulitzer Prize for poetry [NewsCenter]

grounded in the beauty and energy of the physical world, and in the bafflement of the present moment in American culture.

Palm fronds not included.

We’ve already bought “Sun Under Wood,” but now we have even more reason to pick up his newest masterpiece at his Cody’s book reading next week. If you’re a stalker (even off Facebook), you can gawk at Hass on Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth Street.

Do you think if we suck up to him now he’ll remember us next semester when we sit front and center in his American poetry class?

Image Source: Sakeena Ahsan, Daily Cal
2007 National Book Award Winner, Poetry [National Book Foundation]
Earlier: The Chron Tries to Smoke Some Palm Fronds With Robert Hass, Professor Nominated for Poetry Award