The
Wisconsin Book Festival is well-known for its events each fall
throughout the state. However, book and poetry enthusiasts don’t
have to wait for fall to get their book festival fix.
"We planned a few special spring events to keep
everyone interested and also in honor of National Poetry
Month," said Anne O’Meara, program director at the
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Continuing
Education.
National Poetry Month, celebrated in April, is 12 years
old. It focuses on special events with an emphasis on poetry.
Today, for instance, is "Poem in Your Pocket Day,"
when everyone is encouraged to carry a poem in their pocket.
Poetry enthusiasts can also sign up to receive a poem a day
through the www.poets.org
Web site of the Academy of American Poets.
The Web site also features a nifty capsule of each state’s
poetry profile. You can find out, for instance, that Denise
Sweet is Wisconsin’s poet laureate, named by Gov. Jim Doyle
in 2004. Wisconsin’s connections to famous poets, such as
Carl Sandburg, are also explained.
The Wisconsin Book Festival’s spring edition will kick
off April 22 with "An Evening with Adrienne Rich,
American Poet and Essayist." Rich is speaking as part of
the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Union’s Distinguished
Lecture Series.
A major poet of the last five decades, Rich is 78 years old
and has written more than 16 books of poetry and five books of
nonfiction. She’s also won nearly every major literary
award, including the National Book Award, the Fellowship of
the Academy of American Poets, the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize and
more.
While the Rich presentation does require tickets, O’Meara
said most of the other events, which are scheduled through May
2, are free to the public. From participatory events for local
poets and writers to book talks and signings, the festival, O’Meara
said, has "something for everyone."
While most of the festival events occur in Milwaukee,
Waukesha’s Carroll College English and writing program is
one of the presenting partners, along with the UW-Milwaukee
School of Continuing Education, Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops,
UW-Milwaukee creative writing program, Marquette University
English Department, UW-Milwaukee Union programming, Redbird
Writing Studio, Milwaukee Public Library, UW-Milwaukee Peck
School of the Arts and Woodland Pattern Book Center.
"Each of the partners have their own audiences and own
slant," said Michael Kula, committee member and assistant
professor of English at Carroll College. "We each reach
out to different people."
