IN AN EFFORT to foil the notion that Appalachian poets read only other Appalachian poets or that we wear cultural blinders, here is some poetry news from around the globe. Edmonton, Canada, has a new poet laureate: hip-hopper Cadence Weapon (Roland Pemberton is his real name)…. Ruth Padel, Charles Darwin’s greatgranddaughter and one of Britain’s top poets, was forced out at Oxford following her alleged link to a smear campaign against Derek Walcott, her main rival for the poetry prof position….

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What is your favorite poem? Click here to e-mail it to me to share with everyone on the blog. Be sure to include in your e-mail a tad about how it is you like the poem, what it means to you and such.

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This weekend it’s time for the annual Vandalia Gathering here in Charleston…. Enjoy the jam sessions all over the Capitol grounds. I think of all of the music, old-time rhythms, lyrics, Scottish, Swiss, Irish and Appalachian dancing, square dancing, flatfooting, ethnic and regional foods, crafts, and most of all the stream of people kicking back and just enjoying themselves. It’s quite an event!

After a brilliant 43-year run, the International Poetry Forum is closing. Back in April, Samuel Hazo, founder of the Forum, cited the effects of the economic downturn, and on a forward-looking note, talked of his new work and things undone out ahead.

Hazo, an extraordinary poet in his own right, brought us the very best poets for a long, long time. The archive of poets’ voices is a national treasure, and I understand that it will remain available.

The Forum has been the most impressive venue in the Appalachian region for poets of national and international acclaim.

I heard many of the stars of poetry there: Maxine Kumin. Stephen Spender. Richard Hugo. Muriel Rukeyser. William Matthews read there. Richard Wilbur. W.H. Auden. John Berryman. Edward Kamau Brathwaite. Lucille Clifton won the Charity Randall Citation from the International Poetry Forum. Terrance Hayes. It’s a considerable lineup. Other performers with another kind of star power appeared there too: James Earl Jones. Princess Grace of Monaco. Gregory Peck. George Grizzard. Julie Harris.

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First lady Michelle Obama participates in “an evening of poetry, music and the spoken word” in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, May 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Thanks, Crystal Good, for sending an e-mail about the Obamas hosting “the first ever White House poetry jam” on Tuesday evening…. This is so great! WordPress is not letting me embed the video here for no reason I can make out, but click here to watch part of it anyway at thedailyvoice.com.

I suppose you’ll forgive me for veering off into Kentucky:

YOUNG APPALACHIAN POETS AWARD. Hazard Community & Technical College is accepting submissions for next year’s Young Appalachian Poets Award. Anyone who’d like more information can contact Scott Lucero at (606) 487-3200 or at Scott.Lucero@kctcs.edu and can check out the MySpace pages at http://www.myspace.com/eveningwithpoets and http://www.myspace.com/kudzumagazine.
Monica Silvera, a high school senior from Oak Ridge, Tenn., was this year’s winner. Her poem, “Misfortunes in a Bathroom Stall,” will appear in the college’s literary magazine, Kudzu.

GOOD READS. Candace Chaney at The Lexington Herald-Leader has a good read headlined “A Man of His Words,” all about Gurney Norman, Kentucky’s new poet laureate. Also, read a great op-ed piece in the Herald-Leader about Norman by Rebecca Gayle Howell, who teaches at Morehead State University. Visit the Kentucky poet laureate Web site. Norman will serve as poet laureate for the 2009-2010 term.

AUDIO: JIM WEBB ON POETRY AND GURNEY NORMAN. Download here or just listen an archived show from WMMT FM 88.7, Mountain Community Radio.

Three books — Photo by Vic Burkhammer

Bill Robinson, Ric Cochran and Sharon Stackpole, who sent poems to MountainWord recently in a book giveaway, will each receive a book by a West Virginia poet. Thank you for sending poems to MountainWord for National Poetry Month!

The books are (left to right):

Paradox Hill: From Appalachia to Lunar Shore by Louise McNeill
Recipe for Blackberry Cake by Diane Gilliam Fisher
Collected Works by Joe Gatski

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