Monday, April 16, 2007

From the Fishouse: Poetry Out Loud

Here's another April Poetry Month treat for you! About two years ago From the Fishouse was launched. This is a website entirely devoted to three things:

1. Promoting the oral tradition of poetry
2. Showcasing emerging poets (poets who have published no more than 2 books so far)
3. Providing an educational resource for students of modern poetry

Poetry can be such a different experience when you hear it read out loud. For the past two years, From the Fishouse has been sending a recorder with a question and answer sheet to poets all over the country, and the poets record themselves reading their poems out loud. Right now on the site, you and I can hear poems read out loud by more than 100 up-and-coming poets. Many of the audio files include question and answer sessions with the poets about the writing process and how some of their poems came to be. It's very cool to get a little of the "backstory" along with the poems, and it's a great learning tool for students.

If April puts you in the mood to check out new poets, here are a few highlights (and feel free to browse around...there's a lot of poetry packed into this one little site!)
These poets' "official" websites:
Anthony Walton
Tyehimba Jess
Camille Dungy (Fishouse)
Ilya Kaminsky

From the Fishouse on Academy of American Poets
Times Record article about From the Fishouse

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