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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-09-23 Poet Laureate Committee Minutes North Andover Poet Laureate Committee MEETING MINUTES September 23, 2020, at 7:00 PM — Online Remote Conference Meeting Attendees: Mark Bohrer(N.A. Poet Laureate), Gayle Heney (Co-Chair), Jill Barker(Co-Chair), Karen Kline, Marie McAndrew-Taylor, Bridget Rawding, Latika Karnani, Jason O'Toole Welcome and opening poem Call to order at 7:01 PM with welcome by Co-Chair Gayle Heney and introduction of Karen Kline who read Anne Dudley Bradstreet's poem "To My Dear Children". Karen noted that Anne Bradstreet could be considered the town's first poet laureate (as she was the first American poet) and that she wrote the poem shortly before her death here on September 16, 1672. After that reading, Gayle introduced Poet Laureate Mark Bohrer who read his poem, "Among the Names", which he had written after a visit in the fall to the old burial ground on Academy Road. This poem is from his book of poems, Almost Whole. Welcome/introduction of new PLC member Jason O'Toole Gayle then introduced the Committee's newest member, Jason O'Toole, and elaborated on his many published works of poetry and related awards, including his poem "Samsara"which debuted in the Scrib Arts Journal and was nominated for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association's Rhylsing Award. Jason is a spoken word artist and guitarist and he was also a vocalist with the NYC hardcore punk band Life's Blood. His poems appear in the Alien Buddha Press' 2020 release The Rocketman: Spurious Conversations with Kim Jong-un. When Gayle invited Jason to make some remarks he stated that he works in the field of elder advocacy at Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley. Like one of his favorite poets, Jeanne Robert Foster, who started the Schenectady, New York, Senior Center, was the author of three poetry collections, and who was great friends with famous contemporary poets/artists, Jason would like to bring poetry to seniors of North Andover. Also, he has been successful with publishing, so maybe we could have a poetry revue for the community, or anthology, or contest especially now that readings are not happening but, rather, Zooms, as people are getting back into publishing and reading more anthologies and revues. Jason expressed his sincere thanks for this opportunity and he looks forward to coming year. Gayle noted that this was happy timing for Jason to join the PLC when one member, Jessica Furtado, has stepped away. Mark liked Jason's idea of community poetry submission collection--great way to involve the Town. Gayle spoke of her Poetry Wall as PL for which she received 400 submitted poems. Now there is an even greater need for people to be able to communicate. Update from Poet Laureate Mark Bohrer Mark gave update on N.A. Poets Corner Facebook group and Open Mic. As Poet Laureate he is hosting the monthly Open Mic, although this month was postponed because he wanted to have it outdoors but the timing just didn't work out. Instead he will host it as a Zoom gathering on the fifth Tuesday rather than the fourth Tues of this month. The programs have gone quite well via Zoom, with good turnout. Navigating in a new space, we learn that somethings work better and we don't have to drive, etc. Also, the Stevens Osgood Hill Estate manager Joanna Ouellette is interested in poetry and hosting live events at the Estate. Open Mic was able to meet there last month outdoors and plans on meeting there again in October on a weekend day. -Ideas for fall and winter: Gayle asked Mark and all the members if they had any ideas for fall and winter. Mark said that doing the monthly Open Mic, now in a new mode where he has a feature poet each month, showcases good poets in the area. In addition to hearing new voices, we expand our poetry network because they bring in their friends, so connections are made with other towns. Jason spoke briefly about a contest idea which is usually open from 2-6 months. Sometimes there is a modest entry free which is donated to a special charity also a fee per entry discourages people from over- submitting. But if it's for the Town we may not want to have an entry fee, it's just an option to host something for a charity. The contest lasts over a few months, enough time to collect and judge poems. Report and comments on NACAM's Susan Martin's idea to share poetry videos Gayle made a report and comment on NACAM's Susan Martin's idea that we may want to produce a poetry video. Gayle subsequently spoke with Bill Roberts at NACAM, who informed her that Susan Martin was no longer there. If we would like to sponsor poetry videos, any of us could read poetry and record it and then upload it to NACAM so they could make a program of it. Gayle was interested in doing that and asked if others were so inclined to either read their own poems or poetry of others. Jill Barker agreed that would be a nice opportunity for any member to share poetry via that platform. She also compared it to similar video project that the Library has posted on NACAM, reaching out to the community via cable tv and online. Gayle discussed moving ahead with a contest, establishing some priorities and a timeline. Karen Kline suggested that spring time would be a good time for the video of poetry and Gayle recommended that Karen take the lead on that video project, especially because Karen has worked with NACAM many times. Karen agreed to working with people for the video and would be the contact person. Mark asked Jason about his experience with doing poetry videos. Jason mentioned a few of the recent videos he recorded for town cable programming in the region. He used Zoom for his programming in Belmont. He suggested that there are a few ways of doing the videos, like uploading to YouTube which allows specifying viewers. It's also a great way to reach people anywhere across the country so they can see poets and hear readings that they would not have been able to hear otherwise and get to know each other. Mark asked Jason if he has done any kind of video presentation other than just a reading of poetry. Gas, a video literary magazine, recorded him and included it in the magazine. Gayle reminded Jason and everyone else that NACAM is available to do editing. Anyone can do a recording and NACAM can put it all together. It could be a collective video of separate videos. Gayle asked if members would like to do a PLC video and submit it to NACAM to edit. Most members were interested and would submit a video if given enough time to do so. Gayle then asked for a submission date and reiterated that the video could be of any length and would be submitted to Bill Robert at NACAM. Latika Karnani asked if each of us should send in our videos separately or if we should gather them and send them all in at once to NACAM. Gayle said she could do the collective video and then send it to Bill. Mark said that NACAM could put titles to it and some simple graphics and make it a true production, something more professional. A video submission date of 10/23/20 was chosen. Bill Robert is listed with his contact info at northandovercam.org. Discussion of other ideas to promote poetry in town during the coronavirus pandemic Gayle asked about ideas to promote poetry in the town during the pandemic. She noted that this collaborative video would certainly be part of that. There were no other presented ideas at the time. Jill Barker asked if we wanted to promote the town poetry site more, in some different ways--perhaps putting a notice about the PLC on NACAM. Karen suggested that posting information in the school bulletins reaches not only the students but their parents as well. Gayle asked Karen to follow up on that and write up a small blurb. Mark mentioned that if we do have any videos that are posted on NACAM, there could also be a link that could be publicized in the North Andover Poets Corner that would reach more of the public and could generate more interest. Karen wondered if the schools allow any outside programs to be put on their websites so that the students would have ready access to the information, especially if it were youth- related poetry like Shel Silverstein or Mattie J.T. Stepanek, etc. Mark thought that would be a good way to connect with youth and target your audience and then share those readings. Gayle said she would talk to Bill and mention that these kinds of videos would be coming at some point in the future to perhaps create some kind of programming at NACAM. Announcements by PLC members Gayle Heney and Latika Karnani Gayle asked Latika if she had an announcement. Jill explained that Latika had previously briefly mentioned that she had been published in a recent poetry anthology and thought Latika might want to take the opportunity at this meeting to give us some more information about this. Latika then explained that she had submitted two poems on Beauty and she shared one that is a short poem. She commented that there are two dimensions to understanding the poem, entitled "Beauty's Law", which was published in the publication Rockport Anthology 2020. Gayle announced that she would be stepping down from the Poet Laureate Committee at the end of October. She noted that she is very involved in many art projects and is looking forward to committing her time to these projects. She thanked everyone for being an important part of reaching out to the community during the pandemic, with examples like the Open Mic series, Pop-Up Poetry in various locations throughout the community, keeping the website current and promoting poetry which can be healing during these times. Jill expressed her sadness over Gayle's announcement but thanked her for all she had done leading the PLC. In response, Gayle thanked Jill for being her Co-Chair and taking on many of the organizational business tasks. Mark mentioned that when he was approached about being the town Poet Laureate, one of the things that persuaded him to take on that challenge was that he knew that he would have the support of a great Poet Laureate Committee and he so appreciated Gayle being the point person as the organizer for the PLC. Mark noted that we now have a few PLC openings to fill and need to reach out to the community and invite them to become members. Gayle reminded everyone that when she went to the Selectboard, they agreed to allow PLC members to also be from outside the town and not just North Andover residents, opening up membership opportunities for the Committee. Mark's Open Mic may offer new prospective members that we could reach out to as well now. Considering present social circumstances, now may be a really good time to interest people who may be looking for something to do, like getting involved with a Committee like ours, promoting poetry in town. Discuss any other business, including announcements for upcoming poetry events Gayle solicited any other business or notices of poetry events around town, region, or elsewhere. Jill shared information about the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Winners Collection and offered to send the link to listen to the audio of the poets reciting their winning poems. The link is: poetryarchive.org/collections/foyle-young-poets-of-the-year/. Gayle informed listeners that on her cable show Write Now she interviewed Kathleen Aponick, a resident of Andover, who released her poetry book in celebration of Poetry Month. Aponick's interview on Write Now, including readings from her book, The Descendant's Notebook, is available to view on Comcast 22 and Verizon 24. Gayle told Mark that Kathy Aponick might be a good choice as a headliner for Open Mic. Set next meeting date and appoint secretary pro tem for [this] meeting The Committee agreed to schedule their next meeting on Wednesday, November 18, at the usual time of 7:00 PM. Mark suggested that the PLC should be meeting every two or three months. Jill Barker agreed to be the secretary pro tem for the meeting this evening. One will be needed for next meeting. Closing poem Jason O'Toole, the newest member of the NA Poet Laureate Committee, read his selection for the meeting's closing poem: "Anew" by the poet David Ignatow from his collection of poems Rescue the Dead. Adjournment Gayle thanked all the PLC members and called the meeting adjourned.