Leaves of Bark

Jorge Leon Martinez : Mexico

Mtro. Jorge León Martínez is a poet who is the Dirección de Proyectos y Vinculación-SIE at the Coordinación de Universidad Abierta y Educación a Distancia, in Mexico.

I have not been sent any links to his poetry, but the mission of CUAED is:

Promueve la innovación educativa en las escuelas y facultades de la UNAM al aprovechar los beneficios de las tecnologías digitales; fomentar la inclusión de grupos vulnerables en programas educativos pertinentes y de calidad e impulsar la investigación interdisciplinaria con énfasis en sistemas y ambientes educativos, además de propiciar la formación de recursos humanos de excelencia para atender las demandas de la sociedad contemporánea.

Steven Riel : Poet-Librarian at Harvard

A few months ago I posted a short note about Steven Riel. Now through the gravepine he has heard of Leaves of Bark and has send us all more information.

Steven has a website at www.stevenriel.com, where we have linked to one of his poems, "Deathwatch".

Steven has an MFA in Poetry and works at Harvard University in the Harvard College Library.  Here's the link to his work directory listing: http://hcl.harvard.edu/technicalservices/about/staff.directory.html

Ana Rosa Nunez : Cuba (1926 - 1999)

``Without Ana Rosa, the Cuban collection of the University of Miami Library would not be what it is: the best Cuban library outside Cuba,'' said Esperanza Bravo de Varona, the collection's coordinator. ``Not only the exile community but also the Cuba of the future owe her a debt of gratitude for her tenacious and fruitful labor.''

That was written in the obituary for Nunez, in the El Nuevo Herald, August 5, 1999.

The obituary added: "Nunez, born in Havana on July 11, 1926, graduated from the School of Philosophy and Humanities and the School of Library Sciences at the University of Havana. She left Cuba in 1965.

 Her work, which began in Cuba with A Day in Verse 59  and Gabriela Mistral: A Hurtful Love, continued in Miami. Her copious bibliography includes The Seven Moons of January, Praise to the Royal Palm, A Trip to Cazabe, Caribbean Scales, The Twelfth Hour and Chrysanthemums.

Nunez worked as a reference librarian and bibliographer at the University of Miami's Otto G. Richter Library. Together with Rosa Abella, she was a pioneer in the collection of Cuban documentation."

 

Rostislav Blecha : Kladno, Czech Republic

Rostislav Blecha is a library-poet working at The Central Bohemian Research Library in Kladno, Czech Republic. She published a book of poetry in 2007 called Pìtadvacet (Twenty-five). Below is an example from the manuscript she sent. (Sorry, no translation yet.)

POJĎ SE MNOU ZA NADĚJÍ

Zas nekonečnou bílou plání
vede má dlouhá pouť,
den za dnem za snem kráčím,
za hvězdou, co září v tmách.
S radostí v srdci
jdu za nadějí,
za novým krásným životem.

Snad andělů zpěv mi do uší zní,
snad rolniček cinkotání,
snad je to můj hlas,
který prosí:
Pojď se mnou v dlani dlaň
v ten krásný čas za nadějí,
za hvězdou, co září v tmách,
s radostí v srdci
se mnou zpívej:
Ave Maria...

Nearing 50 Living Library Poets

In less than two months the Leaves of Bark blog has identified almost 50 living library poets around the world: 28 in the US, and 14 from various nations., including Namibia, Scotland, France, England, the Czech Republic, and Canada.

Thanks to everyone who has sent poems and biographical information. Keep on spreading the word and remember, we have a Contemporary Library Poetry page to highlight the poems of library-poets if you want to send us a sample or two.

Jeanette M. Clough : Poet & Librarian

Jeanette M. Clough is a Senior Reference Librarian at the Research Library at the Getty Research Institute, in Los Angeles, CA.

She is also an accomplished poet. A list of her titles can be seen here, including four books of poetry, one book edited, and two artist books. A picture and bibliographic description of one of the lovely artist books, Stone, is here.

She tell us she has also written numerous journal articles.

2 Additional Living Scottish Bards

Staff at the Scottish Poetry Library have sent word of two more living Scottish bards. They are: A.B. Jackson and Richard Price. Jackson was "Born in Glasgow in 1965, and grew up in Bramhall, Cheshire, before moving to Cupar in Fife and attending Bell Baxter High School. He studied English Literature at Edinburgh University, and is currently Senior Information Manager at NHS Education for Scotland.

His first book, Fire Stations, was published by Anvil in 2003 and was awarded the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. A poem, "The Chemical Wedding" is online.

Richard Price was born in 1966 and grew up in Renfrewshire. He was educated at Napier College and the University of Strathclyde, where his doctoral thesis was on the novels and plays of Neil M. Gunn. He is the Head of Modern British Collections at the British Library.

Founder editor (with Raymond Friel) of Southfields and the current magazine Painted, spoken, he is a poet associated with the 1990s grouping of poets the Informationists, including W. N. Herbert, David Kinloch, Peter McCarey and Alan Riach. He is also a member of the London-based Poetry Workshop.

His publications include Marks & Sparks (Akros, 1995), Perfume & petrol fumes (Diehard, 1999), Frosted, melted (Diehard, 2002), and Lucky Day

Lisa Forrest : Buffalo, NY

Lisa A. Forrest is a Senior Assistant Librarian for SUNY College at Buffalo and the founding member of the school's Rooftop Poetry Club. A 2007 and 2008 Pushcart Prize nominee, Lisa's creative writing has been featured in eco-poetics, foursquare, Lake Affect, Yellow Edenwald Field and many other small press publications.  She is the recipient of the national Public Radio News Directors Incorporated (PRINDI) Award, June 2009 for her radio commentary And So This is Christmas, which aired December 2008 on WBFO, Buffalo’s local NPR station.

Lisa's first collection of poems, To the Eaves (2008), is available from BlazeVox Books, and you can hear an interview with her on the Joe Milford Poetry Show Interview.

With Lisa, that makes two from Buffalo.

Aline Soules: Librarian who loves poetry

Aline Soules works by day as a mild-mannered librarian at Cal State, East Bay, but by night she is... better let her finish this, I could already be in trouble for saying mild-mannered.

From the extensive list of courses, poems, and publications one can gather that she loves reading and writing poetry.

Sorry Song

Someday I'll return
to the doorway
where you stood

chase the cracks
around the room
hear the floorboards

remember
the pitch of
hushed nights,

long ago gone.

One morning I dreamt
my arms were glass,
and I wanted to hammer a house

rattle ground
teeth and
bone

you just pointed
to the weeds
the sliver moon trees,

singing a sorry song.

Stone

Title:             Stone / [handmade by Tania Baban] ; poem, Jeanette Clough.
Publication Information:  [Marina del Rey] : Conflu:X Press, 2003.
Description:       1 v. (unpaged) : ill. ; 70 x 100 mm.
Notes:             Volume is comprised of 1 leaf folded accordion style pasted
                      on paper boards, wrapped with a paper band held together
                      by a velcro tab. A small stone, glued on the cover,
                      marks the "o" in "Stone".

Link to book artist’s site:


Stone
Jeanette Clough


Unbuilt, it occurs at intervals like musical notes,
vast arpeggios sprayed across the landscape.

Crumble breaks down the sound of hard. 
Peak, boulder, gravel, sand.

I am heard in the resonance of lichen.

Because of its weight, stone spends most of its time on the ground
as thrush-landing;  worm roof.

Yesterday stone held me in its shadow.

Some words do not apply.  Supple, for example.  The n-e-s-s 
at the end of things.

The taste of stone is pewter, sap, chrome, and ginger.

The voice of stone is mauve.  It punctuates with raw umber.  It thinks in rose. 

When stone warms up it stretches and gets a little bigger.

Before stone travels, it must detach.  Water or wind
will take the job.

The customary words:  chisel, crack, split. 

Every stone in the road is broken.

Earth-knuckles.  The deep joints shift.

Steven Riel: Contemporary LP

James V. Carmichael Jr. suggested that we add Steven Riel to the list of contemporary librarian poets. From a quick search it looks like Stephen is, or was, the Senior Serials Cataloger in the CONSER Office of Harvard.

Note: LP does not stand for long-playing record. It is just short for Library-Poet.