Follow up to the Dodge Festival

Random stuff from The Dodge Poetry Festival:

 

 

Standing in the rain with Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate of England.

 

Mark Hillringhouse, one of my very first students at Hope College, introduced me at my reading. That sure meant the world to me. Mark has done such important work. He received one of the New Jersey Governor's Awards this past year. Check him out on the ole web. Remarkable man.

 

Jerry Stern to Taslima Nasreen who, if she returns to Bangladesh, will be killed for what she has written:

"Well, at least in your country they care about poetry."

 

Linda Hogan saying, "Oh how I loved that room of your daughter's, that magical bed, all the pictures."

 

Linda Pastan to Jorie Graham after Ms. Graham had talked awhile about her theories of how to say the unsayable in poetry: "...Jorie, that's all amazing, but I'm afraid if people think they have to remember all that, it will scare them away."

 

Peter Murphy: "I need to say this: I really don't like dogs. And I'd prefer to always stay indoors."

 

Jerry Stern again: "I have seventeen pet peeves. One is when someone says, 'Oh, I don't read poetry.' I want to yell, 'You stupid _ _ _ _, are you an idiot! What is the matter with you! Are you proud of being such a schmuck?!' "