News for and about the Internet2 community

[Heather Weisse <>]

Title: April 1 Library of Congress Poet Laureate Webcast

Poet Laureate Kay Ryan to Hold Videoconference With Community College Students on April 1
               
U.S. Poet Laureate Kay Ryan will anchor a one-hour videoconference from the Library of Congress on April 1 to highlight Community College Poetry Day across the country. 

The videoconference and the day-long campus poetry festivities are part of Ryan’s "Poetry for the Mind’s Joy" project, sponsored by the Library in collaboration with the Community College Humanities Association (CCHA). Individual campuses are planning poetry readings, discussions, slams and other activities.

The one-hour videoconference with community college students on the process of writing poetry will start at 1 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, April 1.  The event will be streamed live and can be viewed at www.loc.gov/poetry/mindsjoy/.

During the videoconference, Ryan will talk with selected students from community college campuses in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Texas and Virginia. The schools participating are Bucks County Community College in Newtown, Pa.; Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis; Tarrant County College, Northwest Campus, in Fort Worth; and Northern Virginia Community College, Loudoun Campus, Sterling, Va.

The Library of Congress and CCHA selected the colleges for their expressed interest in the poetry project and for the interest in the humanities on their campuses.

In the videoconference, Ryan will reveal some of her sources of inspiration, show how one of her poems developed through 10 drafts, and ask students to share some of their sources of inspiration and efforts in rewriting. She will also divulge helpful tips about writing poetry. In addition, students and faculty members may discuss with Ryan their campus celebrations for the day.

Ryan’s poetry project "Poetry for the Mind’s Joy," which she initiated during her second year as U.S. Poet Laureate, was designed to celebrate the poetry written by community college students. Besides the videoconference, Ryan’s project included a community college poetry contest administered by CCHA and its executive director, David Berry. Winners of the contest will be posted in an online anthology on the Library’s website www.loc.gov/poetry/mindsjoy/ by March 31.

As part of the project, Ryan named April 1 as Community College Poetry Day. April 1 is also the first day of National Poetry Month, a designation inaugurated in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets in New York.

The videoconference is being held in collaboration with MAGPI, the Mid-Atlantic GigaPop for Internet2, the Internet2 Arts and Humanities Initiative, and the University of Pennsylvania's Penn Video Network, which are donating the time and resources required for the event and for streaming it live to www.loc.gov/poetry/mindsjoy/ for viewing.  Later, excerpts of the videoconference will be posted on www.loc.gov/poetry/ for students, their professors, poets and the public.

The Poetry and Literature Center at the Library of Congress is the home of the U.S. Poet Laureate, a position that has existed since 1937. The center also administers the poetry series, which began in the 1940s and is the oldest in the Washington area and among the oldest in the United States. The readings and lectures are free and open to the public.
    

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PR 10-049
03/11/10 
 ISSN 0731-3527