FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nation’s Oldest Poetry Journal, Poet Lore, Celebrates 125 Years in Print
Anniversary marks a milestone in American literary history
BETHESDA, MARYLAND (February 25, 2014)—Poet Lore, the nation’s oldest poetry journal, will celebrate
125 years of publishing excellence throughout 2014. With support from the
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), Poet
Lore is marking its anniversary with a year of special events and
initiatives, including partnerships with the Folger Shakespeare Library and the
Library of Congress.
"Poet Lore…[has] had a
remarkable who's who of the poetry world grace its pages,” says Supriya
Bhatnagar, editor of The Writer’s
Chronicle. The magazine was founded in 1889 by Charlotte Porter
and Helen Clarke, two progressive young Shakespeare scholars with a keen eye
for new genius. They featured such literary luminaries as Rainer Maria Rilke, Paul
Verlaine, Rabindranath
Tagore, Frederic Mistral, and Stéphane Mallarmé at a time
when few American readers knew their names. Poet
Lore also published many women poets,
including Harriet Monroe (who went on to found Poetry
magazine in 1912) and Sara Teasdale; and its editors were among
the first to recognize and describe the gifts of Emily Dickinson and Paul
Laurence Dunbar, now-iconic American voices that were widely misunderstood at
the time. Walt Whitman, an enthusiastic Poet Lore subscriber, corresponded with its
founders and placed ads for Leaves of Grass in three issues.
In more recent decades, Poet Lore
has maintained its reputation for editorial discovery, publishing the early
work of many now-famous contemporary American poets, including Kim Addonizio,
David Baker, Cornelius Eady, Carolyn Forché, Dana Gioia, Terrance Hayes, D.
Nurkse, Sharon Olds, Mary Oliver, Linda Pastan, Carl Phillips, R.T. Smith, and
current U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey.
Poet Lore introduces
readers to poetry that makes the concerns of our moment both urgent and
intimate. "History
provides a record of human events, but poetry provides a record of
human feeling,” says executive editor Jody Bolz. "I think that's why
so many people turn to it in transformational moments—at weddings
and coming-of-age ceremonies and funerals—and in times of national
celebration and crisis. Poet Lore's editors have always aimed to
publish poems that aren't merely of or for one cultural moment
but might, in fact, outlast it. Ethelbert Miller and I are honored to
be part of that meaningful work."
Co-editors
since 2002, Bolz and Miller have established two
popular new features, “Poets Introducing Poets” and “World Poets in
Translation,” to showcase portfolios by poets who deserve wider recognition—and every issue of the
magazine places new and well-known poets side by side, from
those just breaking into print to former and current US poets laureate.
Poet Lore’s 125th anniversary programming and
events will include:
• Poet Lore at the CityLit Festival, April 12, 2014, at the Enoch Pratt
Free Library, Baltimore, Maryland. Poet Lore will showcase two
emerging voices from its pages, as well as the winner of a contest co-sponsored
with the
Enoch Pratt Free Library. The
CityLit Festival, co-sponsored by CityLit Project and Enoch Pratt Free Library, is Baltimore's daylong celebration of literature. Free Admission.
• “ World Poets in Translation” Celebration at the Library
of Congress, featuring the work of Burmese
poet U Tin Moe, April 2014 (date TBA),
Washington, D.C. In recognition of Poet
Lore’s 2014 “World Poets in Translation” portfolio, this evening event will
present the poems of Myanmar’s U Tin Moe in its original language and in
English by translator Christopher Merrill of the University of Iowa. Free Admission.
• Special 125th Anniversary Issue of Poet Lore. The Fall/Winter 2014 issue of Poet Lore will be released in September
2014 and feature a portfolio of historical perspectives on the journal’s legacy.
• Poet Lore’s 125th Anniversary Reading at the Folger
Shakespeare Library, September 15, 2014,
Washington, D.C. Poet Lore's
editors will mark the journal’s milestone anniversary with a gala reading by
four generations of Poet Lore
poets—Linda Pastan, Cornelius Eady, Terrance Hayes, and Traci Brimhall. A reception and book signing will follow the
event.
• Editorial Workshops: “From
the Editor’s Desk: Poet Lore at The Writer’s
Center,” June-July 2012. In honor of Poet
Lore’s anniversary, The Writer’s Center will offer one-day workshops in Bethesda, MD,
with three of Poet Lore’s editors.
This series will bring Poet Lore’s
mission of literary discovery to life as students learn firsthand how to craft
and present pieces worthy of publication.
• Military Outreach.
Funding from the NEA is enabling Poet Lore to distribute two issues of
the magazine—Fall/Winter 2013 and Spring/Summer 2014—to nine bases across the
nation for use by military personnel and community members.
• Support of the African Poetry Book Fund. Poet Lore is donating a reserve of unused journals to the African Poetry Book Fund for distribution to five library locations
in Botswana,
Kenya,
Uganda,
The Gambia, and Ghana.
# # #
Poet
Lore is
published biannually by The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD,
and edited by E. Ethelbert Miller and Jody Bolz. For
more, please visit: www.poetlore.com. Also, visit us on Facebook. Both
editors are available for interviews; for media inquiries please email genevieve.deleon@writer.org.
POET LORE | THE WRITER’S CENTER | 4508 Walsh Street | Bethesda, MD 20815
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.JPG)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.JPG)
.jpg)
