Leaves of Bark

Timo Lappalainen : Living Finnish Librarian-Poet

Timo Lappalainen writes us with the following information. He has so far had three volumes of poetry published:

..

"Kaikki tapahtuu oikeastaan talvella" ("Everything happens really in winter"). University of Art and Design, Helsinki 1995

"Poetic Licence". Like, Helsinki 2001

"Kultainen noutaja" ("Golden retriever"). Like, Helsinki 2005

He write: "I also have collaborations in about half dozen anthologies, in Finland and Estonia. I am a member of The Union of Finnish Writers. I was born 1959 in Taivalkoski, Northern Finland. Now I live in Helsinki and work at The Vantaa City Library. Here's a link:

http://www.kirjasampo.fi/fi/kulsa/kauno%253Aperson_123175973844629"

Philippe de Tarrazi (1865-1956): Founder of National Library of Lebanon

Many thanks to Hala Bizri, a Lebanese librarian, for sharing these two Lebanese Librarian-poets: Philippe de Tarrazi, and the next post, for Hector KHLAT ((1888-1977) 

- Philippe de TARRAZI (1865-1956), mainly a librarian, founder of the National library of Lebanon, was also a poet.

"Diwan korrat el-aïn", ou Recueil de poésies du vicomte Philippe de Tarrazi, was published in 1946.

 

Of the Lebanese National Library, wikipedia has: "The library was established in 1921, with a donation from Viscount Philippe de Tarazi of twenty thousand books, many rare manuscripts, and the first issues of national newspapers. De Tarazi's instructions were that his donation should form "the core of what should become the Great Library of Beyrouth." It was placed under the supervision of the Ministry of National Education in 1922. It moved to the Lebanese Parliament building in 1937^."

The Lebanese National Library Foundation for has a wonderful history page detailing the troubled history of the library, which is in need of friends and funds to rebuild.

Dr. Kenan Erzurum Library/Poet from Turkey

Dr. Kenan Erzurum is the library director at the Bahcesehir University Library in Turkey. He has published numerous books of poetry (in Turkish). Here is one of his covers:

 

Maya Bejerano : a leading Israeli poet

The author's bio at the prestigious BOA Press says:

Maya Bejerano, a leading Israeli poet, is considered by many poetry readers as a national treasure. She was born in Israel in 1949, and holds a B.A. in Literature and Philosophy from Bar-Ilan University, and an M.A. in Library Sciences from Hebrew University. She has published ten volumes of poetry, and her collected poems, Frequencies, appeared in 2005. She has also published a children’s book, a book of essays, and two short stories collections. Her poems have been set to music, and her work has been translated into Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, Romanian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, and Vietnamese. She has participated in numerous international poetry festivals, and is the recipient of several poetry awards, including the Prime Minister Award, the Bernstein Award, and the Bialik Award.

Hear some of her work in Hebrew and see her entry in the Hebrew On-line Literature Lexicon.  See the Hebrew wikipedia and English entries.

Of her book, The Hymns of Job and Other Poems, NYU Professor, Yael Feldman says :

“Bejerano crosses boundaries as a matter of fact, giving voice to the first female Job (perhaps not only in Hebrew, but the world over) as if this were the most natural expressive venue for a single mother in Tel Aviv of the 1990s.”

Dr. Eric Ormsby : USA/UK Islamic Scholar & Poet

Dr. Ormsby has a long history of academic librarianship, Islamic scholarship, and poetry publications. From Institute of Ismaili Studies website:

Deputy Head of the Department of Academic Research and Publications at The Institute of Ismaili Studies, Professor Eric Ormsby has held positions with several university libraries and collections in North America including: Director of Libraries at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. from 1983-86; Director of Libraries at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and Associate Professor in McGill's Institute of Islamic Studies from 1983-86; and from 1996 to 2005, full Professor and Director of the Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University.

He has been a prolific book reviewer as well.

Two Bibliographic Records (in German) on Library Poets

Here are two other references about ‘poet librarians’ which hopefully be useful for your study:

Schmidt, Gerd: Poeta bibliothecarius : Dichter als Bibliothekare ; [Vortrag am 24.

November 1998 in der Badischen Landesbibliothek]; Karlsruhe : Badische Bibliotheksges., 1999 (Vorträge / Badische Landesbibliothek ;48)32 S. : Ill.

'Lexikon des gesamten Buchwesens' (2. Aufl.),(Vol. 2, p. 297 – 302): a longer article about poet-librarians  'Dichterbibliothekare' – in German

Maria Zajkowski : Award-winning library poet from Melbourne

Maria Zajkowski is a Customer Service Library Officer with the Melbourne Library Services and she has won two very presigious poetry prizes. I was quite moved by her work. Check it out! 

2012 Josephine Ulrick Poetry Prize
First Prize ($20,000) ‘S.O.S’ by Maria Zajkowski, Victoria.
The Judges said: ‘These fine poems are open, they prod but don't preach, they're full of the unexpected, they carry a sense of human vulnerability, they come from the heart or better the whole self and not just the intellect or the level of cleverness... They have mystery – perhaps something of Paul Celan in them – which is extremely unusual in Australian poetry... They are willing to take risks in order to stay true to how life is experienced and would rather tread this tightrope than sit comfortably on a pedestal... This writing has that kind of imaginative rightness that tells us something essential about ourselves and at the same time is in no way a cliché, [it] reads like something no one has ever said before.’

Posted at Greendoor Publishing:

The elements of one

In all the world, under the rain, through drafty passes and over ice floes once a
sea I have only one body to travel in and only one language. Wanting to see in the
mirror that I had the traveller's nous I looked for trails under my eyes, beaches
on my lips. I searched in my bones for artefacts, proof of my journey and that I
existed in more than just the mirror. It is true I was lost on the frozen wave of
a mountain, turning black, disintegrating. Had it not been the wind or gravity
that made me leave, nothing would. I was alone, existing in a lake of ice, tapping
at the world to see which of us was real.

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...

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.

Nancy Kuhl : Curator of Poetry for the Yale Collection of American Literature

Nancy Kuhl has my kind of dream job: Curator of Poetry for the Yale Collection of American Literature. 

There is more about her poetry and work at the Phylum Press website, where she is co-founder and co-editor.

Online Projects:

Room 26 Cabinet of Curiosities:
http://brblroom26.wordpress.com/

Poetry at Beinecke Library:
http://beineckepoetry.wordpress.com/

African American Studies at Beinecke Library:
http://beineckejwj.wordpress.com/

Marek Sekyra: Poet-Librarian in The Czech Republic

Marek Sekyra works as librarian in Liberec, Czech Republic.

He has published one book of poetry in 2007 (Modré hodiny – Blue hours) and one bilingual book in cooperation with Mr. Otokar Simm with his translations of German prewar poets from Liberec (Ještědské květy/Jeschkenblumen = The flowers from Ještěd hill).

Brigitte Richter (Letellier) 1943-1991: French Library-Poet

Brigitte Richter was born in Charlieu, France, in 1943 and has written several volumes of poetry while serving the French reading public as a librarian. Thanks for this living link goes to Viviana Quiñones, Bibliothèque nationale de France,Département Littérature et Art.

Brigitte RICHTER (LETELLIER) est née en 1943 à Charlieu (Loire)

Très tôt, elle a été attirée par la poésie. Elle a écrit son premier récit à 9 ans. Conteuse, elle fut aussi auteur de romans pour enfants.
Jusqu'à sa mort, survenue en 1991, elle a écrit avec passion, patience et délicatesse, car c'était pour elle une manière de vivre en plénitude et d'être vraie.
Photographe, elle aimait travailler avec des plasticiens. Jean-Claude Desprez, conteur lui aussi, a illustré deux de ses livres.
Elle aimait le bleu profond, détestait les faux-culs et rêvait d'être aimée. Elle collectionnait et restaurait les objets rustiques chargés d'histoire, et savait cuisiner des plats inédits où son talent créateur faisait des merveilles.
Elle a été directrice de la bibliothèque de prêt de la Sarthe puis de la bibliothèque municipale du Mans.
Vous pouvez lire, entre autres :

- Le Jardinier des Bêtes (Corps Puce)
- Paroles des Chemins (Donner à Voir / Corps Puce)
- Oeuvres complètes en 3 volumes :
- Volume 1 (Poésie)
- Volume 2 (Nouvelles et contes)
- Volume 3 : Témoin sans Titre (Journal)
- (Les Amis de B. Richter / Donner à Voir)
- L'Arbre à Chats (Editions de La Queue du Chat)

Bark as a Medium

Of course Bark was the first known medium used to publish what we now call books.

Charles Lummis was a Library-Poet who published books of poetry on bark, as has been documented here.

On my trip to the graves of America's poets I collected a box full of lovely bark that had been shed from a huge tree over the grave of Carl Sandburg. My intention is to publish a book of poetry on the bark...but I have no experience as to how to actually do this!

I intend to get a calligrapher do write the verses out on the bark, but what ink to use, how thin should it be, and what to treat the bark with are some questions I have.

Any advice or links to information would be greatly appreciated!

Bon Voyage with Leaves of Bark!

Welcome to Leaves of Bark, where we document the nexus between poetry  (the spoken and written word) and librarianship (the keepers of libers, of books, of bark). Both poet and librarian are essentially scribblers on bark (even if our bark is now comprised of electronitc bits and bytes)

Throughout history some of our greatest poets have been librarians, and some of our best librarians have been poets. Such creators have found inspiration in the brilliant catacombs of library stacks...and maybe you are one?

We have a page for famous Dead Poet Librarians of the Past, and a growing list for both US and International Living Library Poets.