But that does not mean we should cease.
Gary
White House Cancels Poetry Symposium
January 30, 2003 12:44 AM EST
NEW YORK - The White House said Wednesday it postponed a poetry symposium
because of concerns that the event would be politicized. Some poets had said
they wanted to protest military action against Iraq.
The symposium on the poetry of Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes and Walt
Whitman was scheduled for Feb. 12. No future date has been announced.
"While Mrs. Bush respects the right of all Americans to express their
opinions, she, too, has opinions and believes it would be inappropriate to
turn a literary event into a political forum." Noelia Rodriguez, spokeswoman
for first lady Laura Bush, said Wednesday.
Mrs. Bush, a former librarian who has made teaching and early childhood
development her signature issues, has held a series of White House
symposiums to salute America's authors. The gatherings are usually lively
affairs with discussions of literature and its societal impact.
But the poetry symposium soon inspired a nationwide protest.
Sam Hamill, a poet and founder of the highly regarded Copper Canyon Press,
declined the invitation and e-mailed friends asking for anti-war poems or
statements. He encouraged those who planned to attend to bring along
anti-war poems.
Hamill said he's gotten more than 1,500 contributions, including ones from
poets W.S. Merwin, Adrienne Rich and Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
"I'm putting in 18-hour days. I'm 60 and I'm tired, but it's pretty
wonderful," says Hamill, based in Port Townsend, Wash., and author of such
works as "Destination Zero" and "Gratitude."
Marilyn Nelson, Connecticut's poet laureate, said Wednesday that she had
accepted the White House invitation and had planned to wear a silk scarf
with peace signs that she commissioned.
"I had decided to go because I felt my presence would promote peace," she
said.
Jan Jenifer Lawrence at: http://gardawg.homestead.com/gardawg.html ---
Writer's Hood at http://www.writershood.com/... Poets for Peace.... ˇPoemas
sí, balas no!
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