Leaves of Bark

Graves of Poets Videos Online

The Dead Poets Video Project has officially begun, with the posting of forty-three (43) videos of readings and adventures from the gravesites of famous American poets. Journey to the graves of Elizabeth Bishop, James Dickey, Gwendolyn Brooks, Theodore Roethke, Henry Timrod, Robert Penn Warren, Carl Sandburg, and many more.

Paul Lawrence Dunbar at Library of Congress

The Poetry Foundation's very cool "Washington DC Poetry Tour" reveals that Paul Lawrence Dunbar worked in the stacks at the Library of Congress and was the 1st poet - black or white -- to give a public reading at the LOC. (As a side note, the PF says Dunbar hated the job down in the stacks)

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...