Presidents Who Write Poetry?

by Robert L. Giron

When one thinks of poetry in Washington, DC, I suppose one of the least likely places one would turn to would be the White House. But surprisingly some of the residents of the White House dabbled in poetry at some point in their life.

George Washington wrote about the throes of love in his teenage years, but then many people attempt this during this period of their life. Fortunately for us the Library of Congress  has kept track of most of these endeavors.

Here  is the beginnings of an acrostic Washington might have written about Frances Alexander. But it’s important to note that some scholars believe Washington might have lifted it from an undetermined source.

From your bright sparkling Eyes, I was undone

Rays, you have, more transparent than the sun,

Amidst its glory in the rising Day,

None can you equal in your bright array;

Constant in your calm and unspotted Mind;

Equal to all, but will to none Prove kind,

So knowing, seldom one so Young, you’l Find

Ah! woe’s me that I should Love and conceal,

Long have I wish’d, but never dare reveal,

Even though severely Loves Pains I feel;

Xerxes that great, was’t free from Cupids Dart,

And all the greatest Heroes, felt the smart.

I wasn’t surprised to read that Thomas Jefferson wrote some poetry; certainly he was well read. Here below is “A death-bed Adieu” which he wrote in bed during his final days of illness in 1826 for his daughter Martha Randolph.

“A death-bed Adieu. Th:J to MR.”

Life’s visions are vanished, it’s dreams are no more.

Dear friends of my bosom, why bathed in tears?

I go to my fathers; I welcome the shore,

which crowns all my hopes, or which buries my cares.

Then farewell my dear, my lov’d daughter, Adieu!

The last pang in life is in parting from you.

Two Seraphs await me, long shrouded in death;

I will bear them your love on my last parting breath.

James Madison wrote political satire in poetic form while he was at the College of New Jersey which is currently Princeton University. Madison’s poems are recorded in William Bradford’s notebook for the American Whig Society.

John Quincy Adams wrote poetry throughout his life and stated: “Could I have chosen my own genius and condition, I would have made myself a great poet.” Of course, this ambition escaped him, even though he attempted the art in different forms from  secular verse to hymns and adapted  the Psalms. After his death, Senators Thomas Hart Benton and John Davis, who served as editors, collected and published Adams’ poetry in a volume titled “Poems of Religion and Society” (1848). Even Ralph Waldo Emerson included a poem by Adams titled “The Wants of Man” in his collection of poetry titled “Parnassus.”

Poetry is for lovers. Perhaps? John Tyler who courted and eventually married Julia Gardiner wrote and refined a ballad titled “Sweet Lady, Awake! A Serenade.” Once married in the White House, his wife Julia set the ballad to music. During his lifetime, he shared his poetry with friends and family, and poetry served as a balm for difficult periods of his life.

Abraham Lincoln was also a serious reader of poetry and wrote poetry as a teenager, mostly between fifteen and seventeen. Between 1837-39, Lincoln participated in a group called “a Kind of Poetical Society” where he often submitted poems; however, none have survived. But James Matheny, Lincoln’s Springfield neighbor, recalls this off-color stanza:

Whatever Spiteful fools may Say—

Each jealous, ranting yelper—

No woman ever played the whore 

Unless She had a man to help her.

It appears that even during the Civil War, poetry kept Lincoln amused, as a verse which documents the North’s victory in the Battle of Gettysburg was written on July 18, 1863 and is in the collection titled “The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. Supplement, 1832-1865 (Westport, Conn: Greeenwood Press, 1974).

Then it appears we have a long stretch without any poetry written by USA presidents until Jimmy Carter. President Carter is the first president to have written a novel titled “The Hornet’s Nest” (Simon & Schuster, 2003) as well as a collection of poetry titled “Always a Reckoning, and Other Poems” (New York: Times Books, 1995). However, Carter’s poetry is not well regarded and Yale Professor Harold Bloom stated that Carter is “literally the worst poet in the United States.”

Our current President Barack Obama has also dabbled in poetry while at Occidental College where he wrote two poems “Pop” and “Underground” in the 1982 issue of “Feast.” Though President Obama hasn’t kept up his poetry writing, he has incorporated poetry in presidential events such as his inaugurations as did President Kennedy, but President Obama has also had poetry events at the White House.

It’s fitting that President Obama stated on April 17, 2015:

“Poetry matters. Poetry, like all art, gives shape and texture and depth of meaning to our lives. It helps us know the world. It helps us understand ourselves. It helps us understand others, their struggles, their joys, the ways that they see the world. It helps us connect…

I think it’s fair to say that if we didn’t have poetry that this would be a pretty barren world. In fact, it’s not clear that we would survive without poetry.”

Now that is poetry to my ears!!

Source: www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/prespoetry/

Interview with E. Ethelbert Miller

The Writer’s Center’s Assistant Director Sunil Freeman interviews E. Ethelbert Miller about the journal, which was founded in 1889 and is now published by The Writer’s Center. Miller and Jody Bolz have been Executive Editors of Poet Lore since 2002. 

SF: You and Jody Bolz have co-edited Poet Lore for several years now. Have you seen any changes in the submissions you’re receiving, and the poems you are accepting for publication?

 

EM: I think we are seeing an increase in submissions. I believe the magazine is more “visible” to the literary community. One can find a Poet Lore table at the annual AWP conference. That was not the case several years ago. A number of submissions arrive because someone had a conversation with Jody at AWP. One thing I decided about two years ago was to actively seek the submission of work from many well known writers.

That’s how we obtained work from Arthur Sze, Colleen J. McElroy and Terence Winch, and published it in our last issue (Spring /Summer 2015); also in this issue one will find the poetry of Rira Abbasi translated by Maryam Ala Amjadi. Maryam and I were social media friends and I suggested her name to our translation editor Suzanne Zweizig.

In terms of themes, one can read the submissions and conclude that quality healthcare in America will continue to be a serious issue. There are many poems submitted about cancer and elderly parents suffering from dementia.

SF: Poet Lore has a long tradition of  publishing translations. How do you see the journal contributing to  international, global dialogue?

EM: There was a period where we were not publishing translations. As you can see from our masthead we now have a Translation editor: Suzanne Zweizig. Her work and contribution to Poet Lore’s success has been exceptional. One thing we all agree on is that we want to move beyond just having European languages represented in our journal. I think it’s important not to simply think of Poet Lore as the oldest poetry journal in America but also as an international publication bridging diverse cultural communities together. I think it’s important to have someone read the work of Rira Abbasi and not just think about Iran obtaining nuclear weapons. The translation of poetry can be the key to opening someone’s heart. It builds the foundation for loving in a common language.

SF: Roughly how many poetry submissions do you receive, and what percentage of submissions are accepted?

EM: This is type of questions that now plagues baseball.  Everyone wants numbers and stats. How many African Americans play for the New York Yankees? If I gave you a percentage what would it mean? Would a person look at the number of submissions accepted and decide not to submit?  We encourage everyone to send poems. Jody and I read manuscripts without keeping score. I like how Jody will often send a nice note of encouragement to a writer asking for additional work.

SF: How quickly are poets notified if their poem(s) are accepted or rejected?

EM: This is a good question to ask Genevieve DeLeon our Managing Editor who runs the office located at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda.* One thing Jody and I will do prior to meeting (in person) is share the names of writers whose work we read. If there is a match and we both like a poem, then we can get back to that writer much quicker than most magazines. What has quickened the time of notification is that Jody and I exchange a considerable amount of electronic communication these days.

 SF: Some literary journals are going entirely online, discontinuing their print editions. What are your thoughts on this, and do you ever see this happening with Poet Lore?

EM: I’ve always told people that Poet Lore represents tradition. I imagine somewhere there are people who never relinquish their fountain pens. As a baseball fan, I’m against the speeding up of the game and the instant replay. I want to be associated with a magazine that one can smell and touch. As the oldest poetry magazine in the U.S. we should uphold the printed page and respect it the way folks respect the documents created by our founders. For future scholars I think it’s important to have access to online magazines. But hey – I still would like to place Poet Lore magazines inside hotels and on airplanes. There will always be a difference between texting with one’s lover and actually sharing a hug or kiss.

SF: Poet Lore has been the first publication credit for some people who have submitted, and it also publishes well-established poets. Can you describe the selection process, 

Do you and Jody sometimes have disagreements about which poems to accept, and how do you resolve them?

EM: Jody and I have never had a major disagreement about a poem. We read aloud every poem that we are thinking about accepting. We often tinker with stuff and send work back that has been submitted asking for changes and even explanations. We also have the “passion rule” which gives one editor the power to overrule the other. This is like a presidential veto one hopes to never use.

SF: What advice would you give to a poet seeking to publish poems or book reviews in Poet Lore?

EM: Read and subscribe to the magazine. Join our community even if your work has yet to be included in our pages. I think it’s important for young writers to write reviews. This is another way of improving one’s craft and gaining a wider appreciation of published poetry. I remember when Jean Nordhaus (our book review editor) reviewed one of my early books of poems for the Washington Review. Her words were insightful and critical.

I was happy to get the feedback and ecstatic that someone had not only taken the time to read my work, but also write about it.

SF: Who are some of the poets you’ve been reading recently?

EM: Maybe I should just answer that by looking at the books near my desk. There is a big pile. Here are two names: Abdul Ali and Kyle Dargan. I will be giving a talk this summer on the life and work of June Jordan – so soon I will be doing nothing but reading June’s poems as well as her essays. Well, let me mention that I love the poems that regularly appear in Sun magazine better than the ones in The New Yorker.

SF: You’re well known as a poet, memoirist, editor, and activist. Could you talk a bit about these aspects, and how they may complement each other?

EM:  I guess this is what Audre Lorde might call – my many selves. I think what’s missing but is central to what I do is that I’m African American and take pride in the promotion and preservation of African American culture. I see blackness not as a problem but as a gift – one that I must everyday share with the world.

SF: The current issue of Poet Lore has a portfolio of poems selected by Letras Latinas “PINTURA : PALABRA, a project in ekphrasis.” Are there other collaborative projects planned in the future?

EM: Like Starbucks, Poet Lore will continue to surprise its readers…

SF: Are there current writing projects you’re working on that you’d like to mention?

EM: Right now I’m working with Kirsten Porter (Marymount University) who is editing my Collected Poems for Willow Books. This book will be published in spring 2016. A few months ago I started “The Aldon Nielsen Project 2015.” It’s similar to the E-Channel that I undertook back in 2011 with the novelist Charles Johnson. I interviewed him every day for an entire year. I encourage everyone to pick-up a copy of The Words and Wisdom of Charles Johnson. Nothing like this has been done with a living writer. A couple of years ago there was a panel to discuss the E-Channel at the American Literature Association.

I consider Aldon Nielsen one of the major critics of African American poetry. I was curious as to his development from poet to critic. I’m sending questions to Aldon on a monthly basis – so the project is not as ambitious as the one I undertook with Johnson.

Still, I find it amazing and Big Fun.

SF: Thank you!

*Managing Editor Genevieve DeLeon: We do our very best to turnaround submissions—whether they are rejected or accepted—within 3 months.

E. Ethelbert Miller  is a literary activist. He is the board chairperson of the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and a board member of The Writer's Center. Miller and Jody Bolz are co-editors of Poet Lore magazine. He was director of the African American Resource Center at Howard University from 1974 to 2015. Mr. Miller is the former chair of the Humanities Council of Washington, D.C. and a former core faculty member of the Bennington Writing Seminars at Bennington College. He is editor of several anthologies, and author of several collections of poetry and prose, including Fathering Words: The Making of an African American Writer, The 5^th Inning, and How We Sleep On The Nights We Don’t Make Love.

Washington Writers’ Publishing House

Washington Writers’ Publishing House was established in 1973, mainly by Grace Cavalieri, as a nonprofit cooperative poetry press, which incidentally helped to integrate what then was de facto a Southern town. The animating idea was that poets chosen for publication would become members of the cooperative and commit to assist in the work of the press including the selection and production of subsequent books. The new books were chosen yearly through a competition open to writers from the Washington area, and later, the Greater Washington-Baltimore area. Initially the poets themselves underwrote the costs; later grants from foundations and other sources, such as recently the Jean Feldman award, supplement income from book sales to cover expenses.

Among the earliest publications were chapbooks by Grace Cavalieri, Robert Sargent, and Deirdre Baldwin, and soon Terence Winch, Ethelbert Miller, May Miller (no relation), Shirley Cochrane and others, most of whom have gone on to further awards and books. Some of the winners, whose manuscripts are chosen anonymously, turn out to have good publishing credentials already, others are neophytes glad for the handholding as they are guided through the process of becoming first-time authors. [See full list of winning poet below.]

As of 2014, the press had published over 50 volumes of poetry and, since 2000, also some dozen fiction titles (and several of the fictioneers also have poetry credentials). For many years, the press published two or three full-length poetry collections annually, and in early years could only afford simple one-color covers. In 2000 the press also began publishing fiction. WWPH currently publishes one poetry title and one fiction title each year, all with striking covers. Seven of the fiction titles in print are now also e-books, and in the future, some poets may opt for the electronic route.

WWPH presidents have shouldered full loads, publishing subsequent generations of new poets and since 1999, fiction writers. While posting notices about submission deadlines, reading manuscripts (with the help of our fellows), choosing, editing, tweaking, working with super formatter Barbara Shaw of ShawType, obtaining printers’ quotes and copyrights, helping to set up readings, and promoting, with the help of the new winner, in the process we all learn something about publishing. And thus we can turn around and help the next winners.

Among winners who eventually served as president of WWPH are: Robert Sargent, Shirley Cochrane, Eric Nelson, Elisavietta Ritchie Jean Nordhaus, Hastings Wyman, Jr., Bernard Jankowski, Laura Brylawsky-Miller, Ann Brewer Knox, Martin Galvin, Moira Egan, Brandel France de Bravo and Patric Pepper.  Although theoretically winners need not participate in the working of the press for more than three years, Robert Sargent served as treasurer for many more, as currently has Elizabeth Bruce, and Elisavietta Ritchie went on from three years as president for poetry a decade later to serve as president for the fiction division for a further decade. A very few winners vanished soon after WWPH published their books.

Michelle Chan Brown won the 2014 Jean Feldman Award for her collection Motherland With Wolves, inprint in 2015.

List of winning authors:

Christopher Ankney, Hearsay
Barri Armitage, Double Helix
Ned Balbo, Galileo’s Banquet
Deirdra Baldwin, Gathering Time
David Bristol, Paradise & Cash
Laura Brylawski-Miller, The Snow on Lake Como
Nancy Naomi Carlson, Kings Highway
Ramola D., Invisible Season
Grace Cavalieri, Why I Cannot Take A Lover
Maxine Clair, Coping with Gravity
Patrick L. Clary, Notes For A Loveletter
Katharine Edgar Coby, Thrift
Shirley Cochrane, Burnsite
Ann Darr, Do You Take This Woman … and

Hungry As We Are, An Anthology of Washington Area Poets (Editor)
Jehanne Dubrow, From the Fever-World
Moira Egan, Cleave
Paul Estaver, Salisbury Beach-1954
Harrison Fisher, The Gravity
Brandel France de Bravo, Provenance
Nan Fry, Relearning the Dark
Martin Galvin, Wild Card
Patricia Garfinkel, From the Red Eye of Jupiter
Piotr Gwiazda, Gagarin Street
Sid Gold, Working Vocabulary
Beate Goldman, Letters to a Stranger
Dan Gutstein, Bloodcoal & Honey
Paul R. Haenel, Farewell, Goodbye, Wave Goodbye 
Greg Hannan, Instincts for the Jugular
Catherine Harnett Shaw, Evidence, Still Life
Judith Harris, Poppies
Kathleen Hellen, Umberto’s Night
Gray Jacobik, Sandpainting
Robert Herschbach, Loose Weather
Bernard Jankowski, The Bullfrog Does Not Imagine New Towns
Dan Johnson, Come Looking
Beth Joselow, Gypsies
Holly Karapetkova, Words We Might One Day Say
Ann Knox, Stonecrop
Kwelismith, Browngirl in the Ring (audiotape)
Mary Ann Larkin, The Coil of the Skin
Barbara F. Lefcowitz, The Queen of Lost Baggage
Bruce MacKinnon, Mystery Schools
Elaine Magarrell, On Hogback Mountain
David McAleavey, Holding Obsidian
John McNally, Northern Lights
E. Ethelbert Miller, Migrant Worker
May Miller, Halfway to the Sun
Elisabeth Murawski, Moon and Mercury
Sharon Negri, The Other Side of Now
Eric Nelson, The Light Bringers
Jean Nordhaus, A Bracelet of Lies
Catherine O’Neill, The Daffodil Farmer
Patric Pepper, Temporary Apprehensions
Elisavietta Ritchie,  Raking the Snow
Kim Roberts, The Wishbone Galaxy
Ron Rodriguez, The Captains That Dogs Aren’t
Carly Sachs, the steam sequence
Robert Sargent, Now Is Always The Miraculous Time
Jane Satterfield, Shepherdess with an Automatic
Jane Schapiro, Tapping This Stone
Anne Sheldon, Hero-Surfing
Myra Sklarew, Altamira
Katherine Smith, Argument by Design
Dean Smith, American Boy
Octave Stevenson, The Poet Upstairs, An Anthology Of Washington Area Poets (Editor)
Joseph C. Thackery, The Dark Above Mad River
Naomi Thiers, Only The Raw Hands Are Heaven
Maria Upton, Children of Apartness
Margaret Weaver, Escaping Words
Terence Winch, Luncheonette Jealousy
Hastings Wyman, Jr., Certain Patterns

Poetry Workshops Born During the “Poetry and The National Conscience” Conferences.

by Linda Pastan

I started writing poems in a serious way in 1965, and it was a lonely business.  I used my husband’s study when he was at work, and showed him what I had written. Nobody else.  There was nobody else to show.  I don’t think I realized then that real poets existed, certainly not near Rockville Maryland where I lived.  I didn’t consider myself a real poet either, just someone who wrote poems. 

Then one day I saw a small ad in the Washington Post, I think it was.  A new magazine called Dryad was looking for poems, and it existed locally.  I sent poems; Merrill Leffler the editor of Dryad accepted them; and suddenly I had an actual local contact.  It must have been through Merrill that I learned about Poetry and the National Conscience at the University of Maryland.  Rod Jellema had organized the conference and the one that followed in l969. I will never forget the sight of Robert Bly in a long black cape, sailing down the aisle to the stage.  This was poetry!. 

It was at that conference that  I met an array of poets, many of whom are still my friends.  Soon the nucleus of a workshop had formed.  Rod himself; Ann Darr (beautiful ex pilot – WASP which stood for Women’s Airforce Servie Pilots) during the second world war, who came from a small town in Iowa and from sheer will and intelligence reinvented herself:  Siv Cedering or Siv Fox, as she then called herself;  Eddy Gold and Bill Holland, both students of Rod’s—young and full of moxie;  Myra Sklarew (who is the force behind this conference); Alan Austin (whose black box was the first or one of the first audio magazines); Roland Flint—our great and I think underappreciated poet;  Gary Sange; Primus St John ( poet laureate of Oregon;) Bill Claire; Margaret Gibson; Lisa Ritchie (who has also been a big part of this conference and was part of the workshop for its last few years); Ralph Robin (who I remember as a deceptively shy and quiet looking man) ; Michael Collier (teacher at Maryland and now director of the Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference who visited it many times. Occasional others.

The workshop was like the moving crap game in Guys and Dolls. We met at each other’s houses, different configurations of poets every time.  But mostly we met at Siv’s.  She lived on Picasso Lane in Potomac, which seemed very romantic and far away.  I live in Potomac now and since I don’t drive at night it still seems far away, though it was Siv who was romantic with that body, that hair, not Potomac.  Her house was a beautiful contemporary in the woods and we sat around and drank wine and read  poems to each other, shared them.  I don’t remember critiquing those poems, though we must have done so.  I do remember Gary Sange reading a poem about the birth of his daughter which led me to write my poem “Notes from the Delivery Room.” 

Thus we bounced poems off each other and were inspired to write still more poems, though we never imitated each other’s actual styles, and thus a community of poets was formed in the Washington area.  I think of other artist’s groups… The German expressionists: Kandinsky and his lover the artist Gabriele Munter, and Franz Marc, and Jawlensky.  The impressionists-Gauguin and Van Gogh painting together and arguing about art in Arles.  Such communities of artists inspire real work in each other.

So many years later, I still workshop poems but with just a handful of friends now, often over lunch, and we critique each others work fiercely but gently, if fierce gentleness is not an oxymoron.  “Workshop” has become a verb.  Workshops have sprouted up everywhere: in colleges, in writer’s conferences, and as with us, in people’s homes. I only hope some of them are as inspiring and useful, as memorable as ours was.

Note: On March 20, 2015 at the Splendid Wake 3, Linda Pastan  gave this talk on Poetry Workshops Born During the “Poetry and The National Conscience” Conferences. Linda Pastan is the author of thirteen books of poetry including Queen of a Queen of a Rainy Country, Traveling Light, and the forthcoming Insomnia. Her remarks were followed by Rod Jellema who also participated in these workshops. Rod said 60 poetry books grew out of this particular community of poets in the D.C. area.  

A Splendid Wake #3: thoughts, comments, reactions

I think this was our most successful Wake!

—It was well illustrated with visual and audio elements so that it moved along fluidly and excitingly.

—Participants for the most part stuck to their timeframes achieving overall the perfect use of the time and the breathing room for audience to ask questions and make comments.

—Having a lively moderator like the incomparable Regie Cabico glued the parts together and kept the action moving forward.

—The introduction by the Gelman Librarian Chief Geneva Henry set the tone for success in every way. I valued every word she spoke and I was thankful she took time from her family to be with us.

—The paper program booklet turned out beautiful and I found it so helpful in following the live proceedings matched to the celebration of our departed ones.

—Did anyone miss refreshments? Not me! There was so much food for thought, I felt well nourished!

Special shout outs to Jennifer King for making the logistics of all this work so well and let’s keep fingers crossed that we get a good video. The audiovisual support was awesome.

To Holly Bass for getting off a plane from South Africa day of the Wake 3 to participate!

To Toni Asante Lightfoot for driving from Chicago to be present!

To Grace Cavalieri for helping make Miller Newman’s presentation extremely real by getting May Miller’s voice in the room.

To Miller Newman for bringing so many of May Miller’s family into the room.

To Sunil Freeman for sitting as timekeeper.

I feel I learned a lot from these presentations:

—Georgia Douglas Johnson and the Saturday Nighters

While I have actually walked with Kim Roberts to Georgia Douglas Johnson’s house at 1461 S Street NW, I felt Wake #3 gave a new context to the importance of those gatherings that included Langston Hughes, Alain Locke, Jean Toomer, and more. What I didn’t realize that May Miller and her father Kelly Miller also attended those gatherings. I also feel that the rigor Johnson imposed on that gathering was quite interesting, especially in light of our closing group The Modern Urban Griots and the standards set for themselves as explained by Toni Asante Lightfoot

—May Miller

Although I knew May Miller, I never realized how active she was in playwriting and how important playwriting was to the Modern Urban Griots. I was thoroughly delighted to hear May’s voice reading her poems.  May also imposed a rigor on her work and the work of others.

—The Federal Poets

I was really taken with the history of the Federal Poets and how it began with poets working in non-bookish departments of government as well as the fact that May Miller participated in this group. Like the workshop born from the University of Maryland “Poetry and the National Conscience” conference, here and continuing today poets who did not or do not know each other came together to work on their poetry which in my mind is a big risk.

—Poetry Workshop Born During “Poetry and the National Conscience” Conferences

When this workshop was discussed in the Splendid Wake steering committee planning session, I had no idea that this workshop that included poets of national standing was associated with a University of Maryland conference organized by Rod Jellema. I was a student at the U MD during the time that conference was developed and it was at U MD where I first heard Linda Pastan read her poetry and hear her talk about how she was getting it published in magazines that were not necessarily literary magazines. I feel like there is more to learn about that U MD conference which brought together such poets as Linda Pastan, Siv Cedering Fox, Primus St. John, Roland Flint, Myra Sklarew, Ann Darr, Rod Jellema and others. Loved hearing about their rules too – if you didn’t write a new poem, you had to wait to attend.

—The Modern Urban Griots

I had not known that OPP (other people’s poetry) came from the Modern Urban Griots. I had heard Holly Bass refer to that term and enact that principal. I knew about the Griots but I somehow never managed to hear them perform together so what a pleasure to get some of their history and to see them interact.

I also want to say that for a day that suffered daunting weather early in the day, we got a great turnout that filled the room quite comfortably.  I was also interested to learn (because I asked) that there were a lot of folks in the room who belonged to poetry workshops.