|
japhyjunket |
|
THE
SIDEBAR |
|
11.19.2002
Everything's Coming Up Iambic Pentameter!
Why Poetry is The Next Big Thing (again)
Walk past the Longacre Theatre on 48th Street these days and you're more likely to hear freestyle hip-hop poetry than you are chirpy ballads sung by smiling chorus boys and girls. With the Broadway arrival of Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam, based on the popular HBO television specials of the same name, the hip-hop inspired world of poetry slams has finally grown up. While slams, which have been a mainstay of institutions like the Nuyorican for years and is established enough a form to have its own national association, Russell Simmons' Broadway effort looks to expand that audience beyond the downtown scene.
And he's not alone.
Today, Ruth Lily, the last surving heir of the Eli Lily fortune, bequeathed $100 million to Poetry Magazine, turning an institution that's run its ofice out of a library that donates the space into the single largest poetry institution in the world. Amusingly, Ms. Lily has submitted many poems to the magazine,all of which were rejected. What this means for the poetry world-at-large is as of yet, unknown, but what is certain is that for the perennially poor form, this isn't winning the lottery; this is winning the stock market- four years ago, that is.
Americans everywhere seem to be taking a renewed interest in all things poetic. Poet Laureate, Billy Collins seemed to strike a national chord when he presented his poem to the World Trade Center earlier this year and it seems increasingly that the country is turning to the poetic form to gain some solace and insight into the new world we've been presented with. In the words of poet Lucille Clifton, "Poetry is a matter of life, not just a matter of language."
Comments:
Post a Comment
HOME | ARCHIVES | EMAIL
 
Is my Blog HOT
or NOT? This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. |
About Me
THE iRiver PLAYLIST THE BOOKLIST THE MOVIE LIST THINGS TO DO 8.5 Andy Warhol @ The Erotic Museum (9-12) Items marked with an asterisk [*] indicate a must see event. LET'S BUY ON EBAY! PEOPLE TO SEE PLACES TO GO RESEARCHING SELECTED JAPHYDEX JAPHY LOVES JAPHY HATES THINGS TO GOOGLE |