[Peace-discuss] Anti-war poets force scrapping of White House symposium (fwd)

[Margaret E. Kosal]

>To see this story with its related links on the Guardian Unlimited site, 
>go to http://www.guardian.co.uk
>
>Anti-war poets force scrapping of White House symposium
>Sarah Left
>Thursday January 30 2003
>The Guardian
>
>
>The White House yesterday confirmed that it had cancelled a poetry 
>symposium after a number of American poets threatened to turn the event 
>into an anti-war protest.
>
>The February 12 symposium on Poetry and the American Voice, which was 
>meant to focus on the works of Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes and Walt 
>Whitman, was one of a number of literary gatherings organised by the first 
>lady, Laura Bush.
>
>When Washington-based poet Sam Hamill received an invitation to the event, 
>he said he was "overcome by a kind of nausea" and refused to attend. Then 
>he decided to email fellow poets, asking them to compose anti-war works 
>and urging anyone attending the symposium to read works of protest.
>
>Explaining the cancellation, Noelia Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for Mrs Bush, 
>said: "While Mrs Bush respects the right of all Americans to express their 
>opinions, she, too, has opinions, and believes it would be inappropriate 
>to turn a literary event into a political forum."
>
>A former librarian, the first lady has made teaching and early childhood 
>development her signature issues. Her series of White House symposiums to 
>salute America's authors have been lively affairs, featuring discussions 
>about literature and its impact on society.
>
>No future date for the poetry event has been announced.
>
>Mr Hamill, a co-founder of Copper Canyon Press, set up a website in a bid 
>to turn February 12 into Poetry Against the War day. He said that he had 
>received poems or personal statements from more than 2,000 poets during 
>the last week, and plans to present an anthology of the poems to the White 
>House.
>
>In an open letter on the site, Mr Hamill explained: "I believe the only 
>legitimate response to such a morally bankrupt and unconscionable idea is 
>to reconstitute a Poets Against the War movement like the one organised to 
>speak out against the war in Vietnam."
>
>Contributors have included WS Merwin, Galway Kinnell, Ursula K Le Guin, 
>Adrienne Rich and Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
>
>"I'm putting in 18-hour days. I'm 60 and I'm tired, but it's pretty 
>wonderful," said Mr Hamill.
>
>Marilyn Nelson, Connecticut's poet laureate, said that she had accepted 
>the White House invitation, and had planned to wear a 
>specially-commissioned silk scarf with peace signs.
>
>"I had decided to go because I felt my presence would promote peace," she 
>said.
>
>Mr Hamill's more forthright form of protest, however, may have tipped the 
>balance for White House planners, however. He told the Seattle Times: 
>"What idiot thought Sam Hamill would be a good candidate for Laura Bush's 
>tea party? Someone's going to get fired over this."
>
>His is not the only protest in verse. Canadian poet Todd Swift took only 
>one week to compile an ebook, 100 Poets Against the War, which he released 
>on Monday to mark the report by weapons inspectors to the UN security council.
>
>"We're trying to create something that is like the Vietnam war protest," 
>said Mr Swift, speaking from his home in Paris. He said he was amazed by 
>how quickly the collection had spread around the world.
>
>"About 25 of the poets in the collection are from the UK or Ireland, and 
>we are adding John Kinsella and a few others this weekend to the revised 
>version, which will be released next Monday to meet Mr Blair on his return 
>from Bush's ranch," he added.
>
>Contributors to the ebook include George Murray, Ethan Gilsdorf and Maggie 
>Helwig.
>
>State of the Union, 2003
>
>
>I have not been to Jerusalem,
>but Shirley talks about the bombs.
>I have no god, but have seen the children praying
>for it to stop. They pray to different gods.
>The news is all old news again, repeated
>like a bad habit, cheap tobacco, the social lie.
>
>
>The children have seen so much death
>that death means nothing to them now.
>They wait in line for bread.
>They wait in line for water.
>Their eyes are black moons reflecting emptiness.
>We've seen them a thousand times.
>
>
>Soon, the president will speak.
>He will have something to say about bombs
>and freedom and our way of life.
>I will turn the TV off. I always do.
>Because I can't bear to look
>at the monuments in his eyes.
>
>
>Sam Hamill
>
>Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited