Poetry Friday -- Reading Aloud
Wednesday night marked my last class of the semester and to celebrate, we turned our classroom into a coffeehouse for a final reading.
Each student brought his or her portfolio to the podium and read aloud to the rest of us while we noshed on cookies and cider. I even lit candles, which I think were made somewhat irrelevant by the flourescent lights, but it's the thought that counts.
The students loved hearing their classmates' final versions, having given input to earlier drafts, and I loved the concrete acknowledgement that this is what they accomplished these sixteen weeks -- these lovely, evocative, well-crafted poems.
A number of these poets seemed to dread the act of reading aloud before reading, but there was a palpable pleasure in the air once things got rolling -- emanating from the readers and the audience. Poetry aloud is just beyond compare.
So, in that vein, I want to share with you this site for the PBS series The United States of Poetry.
You'll find some mighty good listening there.
For example, check out this one -- in spoken word and sign language.
I am grateful there are so many ways to speak. And to listen...
Each student brought his or her portfolio to the podium and read aloud to the rest of us while we noshed on cookies and cider. I even lit candles, which I think were made somewhat irrelevant by the flourescent lights, but it's the thought that counts.
The students loved hearing their classmates' final versions, having given input to earlier drafts, and I loved the concrete acknowledgement that this is what they accomplished these sixteen weeks -- these lovely, evocative, well-crafted poems.
A number of these poets seemed to dread the act of reading aloud before reading, but there was a palpable pleasure in the air once things got rolling -- emanating from the readers and the audience. Poetry aloud is just beyond compare.
So, in that vein, I want to share with you this site for the PBS series The United States of Poetry.
You'll find some mighty good listening there.
For example, check out this one -- in spoken word and sign language.
I am grateful there are so many ways to speak. And to listen...
