Public Poetry

Over 300 people came to hear 20 poets read for Public Poetry in April during National Poetry Month.  Now that’s a celebration!    If you missed the readings at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, you can hear individual recordings of the ARTlines  ekphrastic competition winners,  honorable mentions, jurors and invited poets here.  From that link, scroll further down the page, and you can listen to radio interviews on The Front Row of all the poets featured at Public Poetry’s library series.  Enjoy!

This Saturday, May 5, at 2 PM, poets Eric Ekstrand, Jasminne Mendez, John Pluecker, Robin Reagler  will be featured.  Artist Arielle Masson is our special guest and, of course a talented WITS student complete the picture at the Jungman Neighborhood Library, 5830 Westheimer, 77057 (the closest library to the Galleria.)  Come join us there.

Art and poetry intersect when Public Poetry and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) celebrate National Poetry Month with a special afternoon program at 3:00 PM in the museum’s Brown Auditorium on Saturday, April 21. Ekphrastic poetry (poems inspired by art) takes center stage when winners of the ARTlines juried competition, plus three Texas Poets Laureate, the Inaugural Poet Laureate of San Antonio and others, participate in this highly anticipated event. Please join us for these readings, docent led tours and a meet-the-poets reception at the museum. 

This event is open to the public  and free to museum members, or for non-members, with general museum admission. 

ARTlines Ekphrastic Poetry Competition

Images above details of:

top left: Olmec, Hand Shaped Pendant, 1500—300 B.C., jade, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of Alfred C. Glassell, Jr.

top center: John Singer Sargent, Mrs. Joshua Montgomery Sears (Sarah Choate Sears), 1899, oil on canvas, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of George R. Brown in honor of his wife, Alice Pratt Brown.

top right: Subodh Gupta, Untitled, 2008, stainless steel, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, museum purchase with funds provided by the Friends of Asian Art, 2011.546. Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth (London, England, UK).

middle left: Jean-Baptiste Oudry, Allegory of Europe, 1722, oil on canvas, Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation, Houston.

middle center: Unknown maker (Italian or American), Mirror (one of a pair), early 19th century, red pine, paint, and gilding, The Rienzi Collection, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Harris Masterson III.

middle right: Mangbetu, Anthropomorphic Harp, early 20th century, wood, hide, sinew, and string, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of Frank Nelson Carroll, Jr., in memory of his parents, Frank Nelson and Eleanor West Carroll.

bottom center: Gustave Courbet, The Gust of Wind, c. 1865, oil on canvas, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of Caroline Wiess Law.

At Park Place Regional Library, chairs were occupied early as curious faces peering into the room were welcomed to take a seat; people from close by communities arrived purposefully, interested to hear poetry; parents brought children; couples carved time out of their Saturday afternoon; clusters of friends and assorted camp followers all filed in. There, readings by featured poets Hayan Charara, Ryler Dustin, Marcell Murphy and Susan Wood completed Public Poetry’s first year – 12 months of poetry.

Putting good poetry in front of the public is what it’s all been about, with some added buzz in the mix.  Our first year has exposed a wealth of creative talent and attracted audiences all over the city.   We’re proud to have presented 25 poets whose work we hope you will continue to follow. Introducing special guests – ranging from Houston’s Mayor, to highly regarded artists, dancers, choreographers, musicians, a NASA administrator and local TV personality – definitely added to making the series more memorable.  The signature combination of featured poets, special guests and talented students offering us samples of their best work, is what sets Public Poetry’s events apart, and our partnership with Houston Public Library ties it all together.

Having won the Houston Press’ Best Reading Series, we’ve got a lot to live up to.  To keep Public Poetry fresh, our selection committee, having served for 12 months, turned over the task of inviting poets to a fresh group.    Alan Ainsworth, Lupe Mendez, Radames Ortiz and Nancy Pearson scoured the city for noteworthy poets, and their selection will be introduced at new library locations over the next 12 months. It’s the least we can do to insure the absence of ossified poetry.

 And, April being National Poetry Month, we’re offering two great programs to celebrate.

On Saturday, April 7, we’ll be at what is undeniably the most beautiful library building in Houston, the Julia Ideson,( downtown, adjacent to Central Branch), to begin our library series anew.  Our featured poets include Mike Alexander, Janet Lowery, Jeremyah Payne/The Fluent One and Claire Kageyama-Ramakrishnan.  Noted architectural historian, Stephen Fox, will be our special guest.

Two weeks later, on April 21, our exciting collaboration with The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston will feature winners of the ARTlines ekphrastic poetry competition.  Three Texas Poet Laureates will be participating as well. With readings, short docent tours, and a museum reception, it’s an event you won’t want to miss. (Read more here). Starting at 3 PM in the museum’s Brown Auditorium, this event is open to the public and free to museum members or with general admission.  See you there!

TAKE OFF is the title of this stunning  sculpture sited at Hobby Airport; Paul Kittelson and Carter Ernst, whose public art projects can be found all over the city, will be our special guests  2 PM, Saturday, March 3, 2012 at Park Place Regional Library.*  Next, choice words will be landing your way, courtesy of our four featured poets - Hayan Charara, Ryler Dustin, Marcell Murphy and Susan Wood.   Add in a measure of kids’ creativity and this  last event in our  Winter Series  is bound to be a hit.  Afterwards, come meet the poets, select some books for signing, and certainly come join us when we gather poets and audience together for some good Mexican food just down the street.

If you’ve been keeping count, this makes 12 months of fabulous poetry at four library locations! Look for our new series to start in April at the gorgeous, newly renovated Ideson Library, downtown.

*Here’s how to get to where it’s all happening. Park Place Regional Library, 8145 Park Place, 77017, is a stone’s throw from the intersection of I-45 and Loop 610. From 610, get on I-45 south. Traveling on I-45, take exit 39. (This is also an exit for Hobby Airport). On the south feeder, go under the freeway at the 2nd underpass (Broadway), and then turn right onto Park Place. The library is just one block from the freeway, on the left side of the street. There’s plenty of free parking, too.

A rainy Saturday certainly didn’t put a damper on Public Poetry.   Our special guest, ABC-TV local news anchor, Art Rascon, started the event with three gorgeous poems by Pablo Neruda (One Hundred Love Sonnets: XVI;  Tie your heart at night to mine, love; and Song of Despair)  and also Love After Love by Derek Walcott –  February being a month when matters of love and the heart are usually given a hearing.  We know that both of these  Nobel Prize winning poets began writing poetry at an early age, and Public Poetry has been doing its part to encourge the next generation of poets by including  talented young students mid-way and at the close of at each event.  Now, we’re also awarding each one a poetry certificate to commemorate their reading.  Don’t you know, these kids were really pleased and proud to be officially recognized as poets. 

Of course, the main event was provided by five featured poets,  Alan Ainsworth, Joseph Campana, Sarah Cortez, Jeannie Gambill and Van G. Garrett, each lending their distinctive voices to the program.  Two poets were recorded for radio on The Front Row.   Find out who by listening here.   We’ll be back again at Park Place Regional Library on Saturday, March 3, to conclude our winter series with poets Hayan Charara, Ryler Dustin, Marcell Murphy and Susan Wood.

We’ll be posting information shortly about our ARTlines events at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston on Saturday, April 21.  Be sure to save the date.  You won’t want to miss it!

In the final week of this year, the Houston Chronicle printed a feature story on the front page of the City & State section, highlighting Public Poetry’s programs. Mayor Annise Parker, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Houston Public Library all had great things to say about poetry. You can read the full story here.

The ARTlines competition featured heavily in the article, and brought record numbers to the web site. Imagine having the opportunity to present your poetry to museum goers and to be honored during National Poetry Month at a special museum event, followed by an MFAH reception. That could be happening to you, if yours is one of the 9 winning entries!  There are still a couple of days left to submit. Get complete information here.

Public Poetry will be ringing in 2012 with a new Winter Series at Park Place Regional Library on Saturday, January 7 at 2:00 PM. In addition to our featured poets – Outspoken Bean, Radames Ortiz, Loueva Smith and Randall Watson – we’re delighted to have Ad Deum Dance Company (dance video) as our special guest at the start, as well as a talented student poet joining us.

 Located at 8145 Park Place, 77017, Park Place Regional Library is easy to find; it’s very close to the intersection of I-45 and Loop 610. From 610, take I-45 south. Traveling on I-45, take exit 39. (This is also an exit for Hobby Airport). On the south feeder, go under the freeway at the 2nd underpass (Broadway), and then turn right onto Park Place. The library is just one block from the freeway, on the left side of the street. There’s plenty of free parking, too.

Thanks for making 2011 a fabulous year.  Happy New Year everyone.  See you again in 2012.