Emory University Unleashes The Danowski Poetry Collection

Emory University kicked off National Poetry Month with a bang. They had three Pulitzer Prize winning poets (Mark Strand, W.D. Snodgrass and Richard Wilbur) headlining a conference titled “A Fine Excess: A Three-Day Celebration of Poetry.”

It was during this event that Emory took the wraps off what some say is the most important collection of English-language poetry in the world.

It was the first public display of the fruits of the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library which they acquired in 2004.

The 75,000 rare books, posters, periodicals and recordings that make up the collection is "a nearly complete record of all published English-language poetry in the 20th century."

I repeat "a nearly complete record of all published English-language poetry in the 20th century."

The library arrived in 1,500 boxes and tea crates, and is still being processed!

The exhibition is titled “Democratic Vistas: Exploring the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library,” and features 250 jewels from the collection including:

-A magnificent copy of the first edition of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. (1855)

-Anne Sexton's annotated copy of Sylvia Plath's Ariel.

-one of 11 known copies of William Carlos Williams' first book, Poems (1909), which was never reprinted

-a first edition of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock and Other Observations" (1917), inscribed to his close friend Emily Hale;

Danowski has provided a 24-page handwritten introduction to the archive, titled “Anything you perhaps don’t recognize, please Google.”

Emory University Press Release

New York Times piece, Atlanta Sings of Poems Electric, Past and Present, by Brenda Goodman

New York Times slideshow of the exhibit

A Tribute to Theodore Roethke

We are pleased to announce they release of a broadside we published to coincide with A Contemporary Theatre's premiere of David Wagoner's one-act play, 'First Class', a tribute to his mentor, Theodore Roethke.

The broadside includes 'The Rosebush', a poem by renowned poet, David Wagoner. Wagoner is professor emeritus of English at the University of Washington, and edited 'Straw for the Fire: From the Notebooks of Theodore Roethke, 1943-63.'

The photograph of Theodore Roethke is by Mary Randlett, well-known for her original photographs of Northwest artists and writers. A monograph of her landscape photography will be published in the Fall, 2007, by the University of Washington Press.

Here are the details:

[Roethke, Theodore]. Wagoner, David and Mary Randlett. The Rosebush; a memory of Theodore Roethke. Seattle: Wessel & Lieberman Booksellers, 2007. Limited edition. Single-sheet, measures 7 x 17-7/8". Printed letterpress in an edition of 100 copies(of which 85 are for sale) at Springtide Press by Jessica Spring, with an original mounted giclee print, from a photograph by Mary Randlett taken shortly before Roethke's untimely death in 1963 at the age of 55. Signed by both Wagoner and Randlett.


Don't miss the ACT trailer for the play and related events
and a 2 minute behind the scenes video

World Book Day

April 23 is the International Day of the Book. Organized by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), this day celebrates books and reading.

This year, UNESCO wants to emphasize the vital role of books not only in relation to education, economics, cultural creation and democratic participation, but also, as stressed by Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura, their “importance with regard to freedom of expression and the safeguarding and promotion of expressions of cultural diversity, which are major issues for humanity.”

Books first became connected with this date in Catalonia. Author Miguel de Cervantes died on April 23 (according to the Gregorian calendar.) In Spain, 'Don Quixote" is read on this day and the Cervantes Prize for Literature is announced by the King at the University of Alcala de Henares. The award for 2007 is Spanish poet Antonio Gamoneda. Celebrations occur throughout the world - for example, in Italy, there is a reading of 'Don Quixote' and a rountable discussion of book squandering; the Swiss Book Lobby has organized a national campaign called 'Switzerland is Reading'. In the UK and Ireland, on World Book Day a free book token is given to all school children. It can buy one of the ten specially published World Book Day books or used toward the purchase of any other book.

In Celebration of Poetry

April is National Poetry Month. Inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, National Poetry month brings together publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools, and poets around the country to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture. Events are scheduled throughout the country.

Among the numerous poetry events in the local Seattle area are events at Seattle Public Libraries, the Seattle Arts & Lectures' annual Poetry Series, the Seattle Poetry Festival and a comprehensive list of links from the Washington Poets Association.

I wheeled with the stars,
my heart broke loose on the wind.

- from "Poetry" by Pablo Neruda