Jodi Hsu smiles during a sound check before being interviewed by her niece at the StoryCorp studio in New York, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2008. AP photo

I’ve always suspected that we don’t know each other as well as we could or should — even those we think we know.

This Friday, a day when people are often around friends and family, has been designated a National Day of Listening, a day when we are encouraged to share life stories, short or long. Click here to visit the StoryCorp site for valuable how-to directions for recording stories.

I wish I had even a couple of sentences that one or another beloved family member had said. You may feel that way too. So, it’s good to focus on the people who are still around and their stories — you’ll be amazed — maybe one good story you’ve never heard.

Here’s a YouTube video about the day of listening:

Carol Muske-Dukes was appointed California’s poet laureate this month by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. She is a University of Southern California English professor and founder of the school’s graduate program in literature and creative writing. She has published several books of poems and novels. She replaces poet laureate Al Young.

Visit Muske-Dukes’ web page, or listen to her read her poem “When He Fell” online in Slate magazine — text and audio link.

Click here for more biographical information and poems available at the Poetry Foundation. She’s been an advocate for poetry, and she even founded a creative writing program for women incarcerated at Riker’s Island in New York.

West Virginia Division of Culture and History has announced the statewide “Poetry Out Loud” competition. High School competitions must be completed by February 3, 2009. Click here for information.

This note just rolled in about writing classes coming up in January and February…. Here it is word for word:

Karin Fuller, Sunday Gazette-Mail columnist, and her husband, Geoff, an experienced writing teacher and award-winning author and editor, are teaming up to present Short Takes: Writing from Life.  Students will learn how to turn their personal experiences into stories that move, amuse, and inspire their readers.

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Bonni McKeown sends this e-mail because I’m on her mailing list (by the way, click here to check out her web site):

West Virginia’s Lady D, Doris Fields, is one of 69 singer songwriters in contention for Best Obama Song for the Artist/Musicians for Obama group. Please listen to these wonderful songs and consider voting for hers!

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The Telegraph.co.uk reported just after the election that Barack Obama was seen with Nobel laureate Derek Walcott’s “Collected Poems 1948-1984″ …. Here’s a YouTube clip of Walcott from earlier this year on University of California Television. Enjoy.

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Walcott wrote a poem called “Forty Acres” exclusively for timesonline.co.uk noting the election of Barack Obama. You can read it — just click here.

West Virginia’s Bob Henry Baber often displays a great sense of humor. I’m working up audio from a conversation I had with him recently. With Bob Snyder and others, Baber was one of the “Soupbean Poets” associated with Antioch and Don West in Beckley, W.Va., back in the 1970s. I am also editing a conversation I had with Snyder’s sister, Yvonne Farley.

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Broadcaster, novelist and poet Michael Rosen was named the United Kingdom’s Children’s Laureate in 2007. He is an extremely articulate reading and writing advocate. When you have a few minutes, I think you would enjoy listening to him talk about poetry.

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Have you written a poem in response to the U.S. presidential election? If so,  call (304) 348-5184 and read your election poem into the telephone. Your voice could appear as an audio file on MountainWord.   

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I read in the Chicago Tribune that Wisconsin has a new poet laureate: Marilyn L. Taylor. A practicing poet, she’s online at http://www.mlt-poet.com/. She’s taught regularly at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, has won a boatload of awards, and her work appears in several books, anthologies and journals. She replaces Denise Sweet, an Anishinaabe poet who teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Here’s a sample poem that carries a familiar theme for many parents:
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