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Wednesday, 27 February 2013
24 comments:
“I'm using my art to comment on what I see. You don't have to agree with it.” ~John Mellencamp
“Allowing an unimportant mistake to pass without comment is a wonderful social grace” ~Judith S. Marin
“I don't ever try to make a serious social comment.” ~Paul McCartney
“I'd make a comment at a meeting and nobody would even acknowledge me. Then some man would say the same thing and they'd all nod.” ~Charlotte Bunch
“Probably what my comment meant was that I don't care about the circumstances if I can tell the truth.” ~Sally Kirkland
“We're not going to pay attention to the silliness and the petty comments. And quite frankly, women have joined me in this effort, and so it's not about appearances. It's about effectiveness.” ~Katherine Harris
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Jeremiah, I am totally behind your cause. When I was in high school, our teachers didn't have us writing fiction, let alone poetry. If we students were exposed to more, I would've figured out I wanted to write years sooner and I wouldn't have waited to take my first poetry course until last year. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteIt's ridiculous how bias so many people are against poetry, even teachers. Though, even with this anti-poetry bias, there's a huge number of supporters and active members of the poetic community.
DeleteThanks for the support!
Cheers!
I was hoping you'd bring up Slam. Slam, or hip-hop artists like Saul Williams, seem to be great avenues for getting younger people into poetry.
ReplyDeleteThere's a local Slam poetry open mic, Slam Free or Die, in a city near where I live. I've been bringing friends there, and they've definitively had their concepts of poetry rattled a little.
DeleteCheers!
Great cause, Jeremiah. When I was in high school, many moons ago, I wrote poetry, but hid it from everyone for fear of looking like a nerd. Wish you were around then, but then you'd be in your sixties now. Better that you have all your years ahead to inspire others.
ReplyDeleteI can honestly relate, my friend. I used to write "song lyrics". Basically, I wrote poems but called them "lyrics" instead to avoid ridicule. I stopped doing this my Freshman year. Thanks for the support!
DeleteCheers!
Good for you! Poetry is wonderful. I hope you have much success.
ReplyDeleteThis is great Jeremiah! I was sad to hear that kids don't seem to have respect for poetry, but it sounds like you are making waves with your new ideas.
ReplyDeleteMany kids lack interest because that's simply how they're taught or what other's say of poetry. Bringing friends to Slams and open mics has caused a small surge of interest in my town. I've been very "in your face" with promoting poetry locally, and some people have to me curious about what's going on. I'm hoping this continues.
DeleteCheers!
This is really wonderful! I remember over on the Literary Lab when we talked about poetry and why it doesn't suck like about 99% of the human population seems to think it does. I have that post on my blog toohttp://theinnocentflower.blogspot.com/2008/03/literary-lab-post-043.html
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate what you're doing, Jeremiah!
Isn't it absolutely ridiculous!?
DeleteI'm checking out the post now! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the support! Drop by Nostrovia! Poetry any time. Cheers!
Oh, Jeremy, I'm so sorry you're having trouble finding other interest. I think you may be suffering from location. I live in Ann Arbor Michigan and while I'm a lot older, I have a daughter your age and a troop of former Girl Scouts, some of whom are really involved in writing, including poetry. Our Neutral Zone (a teen hangout) has regular poetry slams and such and I believe the high schools here would be receptive if they don't already have groups. Stick to it--as you get to college and move along, you will find a lot more people open to it. Great job with the press and good luck getting going!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the support! There's an open mic and slam in a nearby city (Slam Free or Die) that I've found home in. Location definitively is a big factor. I honestly cannot wait to finish high school, and go explore a bit, see the United States, and bring poetry with me.
DeleteCheers! Thanks for the support!
Great post and I support this completely! When I was in high school, I tried my hand at poetry and realized it wasn't really supported...I gave it up and for awhile lost even an interest in reading it. However, in the past few years, I've really learned to appreciate poetry. Good luck with your poetry!
ReplyDeleteThe lack of support from peers, especially in High School, sucks, but that's okay. We all persevere. Thanks for your support though, and best of luck with your poetry as well! Cheers!
DeleteThe teacher I had for literature and poetry loved poetry, and thought of unique ways to present it. As a result, I wrote poetry in college while working in the music library. All it takes is one interested teacher and some literary minded students. I applaud your efforts.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy that you've heard of Ginsberg and Corso, Jeremiah. I have 'Howl' and 'Kaddish'. We saw Ginsberg here in Vancouver in the late '70s, along with Corso.
I am infinitely jealous that you saw them. I would love to sit down and talk with Ginsberg.
DeleteI work at a nursing home, and when I first started, a man (who's since passed) had pictures of him with Ginsberg. He said they would hang out at the bars, and just chat. It was interesting getting a real picture of Ginsberg painted, versus the (generally) slewed media's input.
Cheers!
Hey Jeremiah, I wrote poetry all through high school mostly because I didn't have any choice, it just came out. Some people got it, some didn't, and I didn't give a rat's patootie either way. The faculty were very supportive, particularly the members of the English department who always read my stuff and commented constructively on it. I never would have tried to start a club but I wasn't really a club person in those days either. Congrats on starting up Nostrovia! Poetry, I'll be tweeting and pinning your blog post as soon as I finish this note. Keep doing what speaks to you, to hell with those that don't get it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the support man. There's two teachers at my school who are supportive, one of them helping with the design aspects, and the other helping me actually grow with writing. I appreciate the help spreading word of Nostrovia! Poetry.
DeleteCheers!
I remember having to write poetry in high school, and falling in love with it (thirty years ago). I've even kept them to this day! I could only hope that others will feel the same way, once you've reached out and touched them with Nostrovia! Poetry. The very best of luck to you, Jeremiah!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the support! I'm glad to hear of such dedication from someone. Cheers!
DeleteHe's a teen running a publishing company - impressive!
ReplyDeletePerhaps if the way poetry was taught in school was changed, more kids would be interested. Something that would excite them. (An excited teacher would probably help as well.)
Good luck, Jeremiah!
Wishing you the best with this Jeremiah. Poetry is often encapsulated, boxed in, boxed up and finally boxed out the general realm of what's cool. If only people could realize that music lyrics are often poetically inclined, just simply laid over a musical composition.
ReplyDeleteThings could be so much worse Jeremiah. I grew up in a town in Scotland where I felt like the only person who wrote poetry. My parents didn’t read and none of my friends read anything deeper than comics. I wrote in isolation for most of my life and the only contact I had with fellow writers were the occasional note a kindly editor might stick in whilst returning my poems. I was in my late thirties before I met another writer face to face and I married her to stop her getting away.
ReplyDeleteThe Internet was my salvation. I recall the first time I typed the word ‘poetry’ into a search engine. I felt like I’d found home. Suddenly I could talk to other people all over the world who not only accepted me as a poet but expected me to write poetry and, like me, were puzzled by people who didn’t. No one ever asked my age. I could’ve been talking to teenagers or grannies. None of that mattered: we were all poets.
Poetry can be popular with the young. A perfect example is John Cooper Clarke who was hugely (and I do not use that adverb lightly) popular back in the late seventies as a “punk poet” and is still going to this day. Here’s a link to a good selection of his poetry. Try out ‘Evidently Chickentown’ on your friends. I’ve heard him read it many times and it never fails to get the crowds going. There’re loads of videos on YouTube of him.
I love the idea of the nano collections. It’s been done before—what hasn’t?—but I just love the idea of stumbling across a poem in a book. Someone did it with some of my poems a few years ago which was flattering; she printed them out and slipped them into random books at her local library.