Nikki Giovanni interview
Giovanni puts into words exactly what I’ve been trying to say when I teach poetry. I tell students that poetry is simply the expression of emotion, but I’ve never been able to explain the difference between expressing emotion and good poetry. Or as Giovanni put it, is you don’t know poetry you end up with “trite crap”.
I also like how she explains that her poetry is so closely connected to who she is and where she comes from.
I agree that a writer must write. It may not pay the bills, but you have to write. I am not a writer, per se, but my wife is. She has to write. When she gets a rejection letter, she may get down for a while, but she has to keep writing. Giovanni put it very well. I think that’s what makes an artist an artist: it’s just who they are.
Her comments on the comfort of books makes me think: books are comfortable to those of us who didn’t grow up with anything besides books, but in a world where children are more comfortable with a computer screen than a person, much less a book, will these be the sentiments of the generations to come. Why, just last night, I was at a graduation ceremony and watched a two-year-old playing on a portable game system (grant it, my two-year-old often prefers books to toys, and sometimes to people). I think we may be entering into a time when the printed page has less of emotional importance, and thus less of a significance in our society. This segues into the world of e-poetry. We are seeing the arts take on many new forms due to technology. I guess what I am realizing as I type is that as the word changes so does our art.
But where does that leave the parts of the world that are not living in the technological age?
About Me
- prematurely gray
- teacher, youth director, student...but my most important roles are father and husband
4 comments:
First, I wanted to comment on your question about Love that Dog. I love Sharon Creech, as do my students, and I have used that book in the classroom! It is funny, because as my 10 year old daughter saw me sitting at my computer struggling to get some poetry written, she offered me her copy of that book to inspire me :) And...please tell your wife that she can use my comment about my inability to write my name in less than 100 words. I actually took it from one of my fellow English students :)
I am definitely interested in the Nikki Giovanni interview. I have also struggled with teaching students the art of expressing emotion in poetry, while creating a good poem at the same time.
I, too, remember spending all of my time as a child curled up with a good book! It saddens me that my daughter would much rather play her nintendo DS than read a book...or even worse...just wait until "the movie comes out!" However, I have to remind myself that times are changing, and she is still a normal kid. It just seems that kids today are not as imaginative as they once were, and I think that has to be a result of the loss of a great love for reading.
Daniel
"But where does that leave the parts of the world that are not living in the technological age? " I have asked myself this question as well we are definatly in an adapt or fade way stage of technology. I personally hate emails, most of the time when I email someone it is a few lines, I prefer speaking to someone. As a student (who is also prematurely grey) I have come to appreciate the many e-librarys and online sources, as it saves money and makes wonderful poetry, literature and art available to the masses however I tend to find myself printing the articles or pages so that I can highlight and write in the margins. The downfall of e-books and e-sources is that students expect to gather information quickly and in the real world that is not always how it works and part of learning is in the hunting for information.
I find this interesting as I feel somewhere in between technology ages. I am perfectly comfortable with using technology; however, I often just prefer not to. I can't imagine reading a whole book online (it makes my head spin, literally). I think your question, "But where does that leave the parts of the world that are not living in the technological age? " is right on target.
"I thought e-poetry was simply embellishing written pieces with sounds and images from the web, but it is actually expressing the emotions and ideas in poetry through sounds and images available on the web."
I am with you here! I too thought it was just poetry you put online. I had no idea what all went into this new creation.
I'd like to spend some time teaching my students about this.
Also your write up on Nikki, I like Nikki she seems so real. I enjoyed the article and especially her advice to other writers.
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