On March 5, the Duluth Poetry Chapter, working with Caddy Shack Indoor Golf & Pub, hosted a Poetry Slam Dunk, a play on the usual open-mic format of a poetry slam. Poetry slams are typically held in bars, with the alcohol making the reading of poems less intimidating and the listening more relaxed, too.
I’ve been working with Bart Sutter to record the history of the poet laureate program in Duluth. Sutter was the first poet laureate, and the only author to win the Minnesota Book Award in three different categories.
Bart Sutter has shared with me some of his important work as poet laureate. Below is a document from his collection, a partial transcript of a panel he organized. The panel set out to construct an oral history of poetry in Duluth.
I would love more info about the panel or about the clubs and organizations listed therein.
University of Minnesota Duluth students in Writing Studies 4200, “Writing and Cultures,” will edit a collection of creative writing (poems and nonfiction) about what can be learned from a travel experience. They are soliciting writings from everyone (students, alumni, and the broader community) on this topic for inclusion in the collection.
A series of readings was held in October celebrating past poet laureates of Duluth and introducing the next generation of the city’s poets.
In its series The Slice, WDSE-TV presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.
The five-part series of clips from a 1997 Robert Bly interview from KUMD concludes with the poet reciting his poem “August Sun.”
In part four of the 1997 Robert Bly interview from KUMD, the poet talks about the future of American poetry.
In part three of the 1997 Robert Bly interview from KUMD, the poet talks about Spanish poetry and other influences, including the Indian poet Ghalib.
In part two of the 1997 Robert Bly interview from KUMD, the poet talks about nature as an influence and following a thread with words.
Poet and social critic Robert Bly, who penned many of his works from a cabin on Moosehead Lake about 30 miles southwest of Duluth, died on Nov. 21 at the age of 94. He was interviewed in the fall of 1997 on KUMD radio in Duluth, and a cassette of the interview survives in the Perfect Duluth Day archive. Consider the clip above to be part one of a short series.
The interview took place the year after Bly’s book The Sibling Society: An Impassioned Call for the Rediscovery of Adulthood was published.
I’ve struggled with how to blend a history of publishers in Duluth with a history of authors. It feels like that would widen my scope beyond the manageable. And then I find a book like this.
I’m looking for people attached to Poetry Harbor.
Google tells me that the late Patrick McKinnon (DNT spotlight here) was a founder, maybe? So was Ellie Schoenfeld?
The tenth issue of the Nemadji Review, the University of Wisconsin-Superior’s literary journal, was released in May and a new website was launched. The publication was previously available only in print, but the 2021 issue can be viewed and downloaded online as a PDF file.
Monday’s Homegrown Music Festival video content includes the annual showcases of poetry, photos and music videos … along with a short movie starring Teague Alexy.
