Leaves of Bark

HUGE Thank You to All Who Are Sending Names

When I posted my short note to the IFLA list little did I know that I would receive such wonderful and widespread feedback from all over the globe. Our common knowledge of both living and past library poets has been greatly enriched by all your assistance.

I have not been able to do justice to all new entries, and hope to add links to poems and further bibliographic information as it is sent to me. Also, I have not had time to update the lists of Living International Library Poets  and Living US Library Poets, but hope to in the days ahead. Thank you!

I Love the Itinerant Poetry Library

Thank you Adrian Pohl for reminding me of Sara Wingate-Gray and the Itinerant Poetry Library. When I made a 3-month trip to the graves of 150 American poets, her example was an inspiration to me.

Some links:  Saras Homepage : Sara's writing : Some poems by Sara: 

The Itinerant Poetry Library : Video Interview with Sara: 

Another Interview in Nodalities Magazine

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.

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.

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.

Colin Will: Science Librarian & Living Scottish Poet

Thanks goes out to Janice McFarlane for sending this link, at the amazing Scottish Poetry Library, to Scottish poet-librarian, Colin Will.  McFarlane, the Head of Partnerships & Professional Adviser at the National Library of Scotland, tells us that Mr. Will was formerly the librarian of the Royal Botanic Gardens, in Edinburgh, Scotland.

From his website Mr. Will writes:

My library career started with West Lothian Libraries in 1963. I got my ALA in 1967, then did an Open University degree in Maths and Science (with a Distinction in Geology and Geochemistry), before moving to the British Geological Survey Library in 1973. I moved to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 1988. I received a PhD from the University of Strathclyde in 1991, for research on the communication process in science. I served two terms on the Scottish Library and Information Council, and in 2000 I was President of the Scottish Library Association (now CILIPS).

He also "is" Calder Wood Press, which publishes books, chapbooks, poetry cards.

You can read his old and new poetry at his website. On the Scottish Poetry Library he reveals his "Old Favourite":

'The New American Poetry, 1945-1960, edited by Donald M Allen (Grove Press, 1960). I bought my copy of this book in 1961 from Edinburgh 's Paperback bookshop, the one run by Jim Haynes, arts activist and co-founder of the Traverse Theatre. The shop had a stuffed rhinoceros head mounted above the door, and I loved it. At that time I was just starting to write, and it was a bit of a lightning bolt to discover, after the earnestness and, I'd have to say, stuffiness, of conventional British poetry, people like Gary Snyder, Edward Dorn, Brother Antoninus (William Everson), Robert Creeley, Gregory Corso, the Beats, and many others.

They communicated with me, and since then the poem as an act of communication has been the cornerstone of my own writing. It's why I love Norman MacCaig's poetry too, although I also have a personal connection with him, as he taught at my old primary school (Craiglockhart), and I can hear his voice as I read his work. It's also why I dislike poetry which deliberately sets out to obscure meaning and hide emotion. Poetry should wear its heart on its sleeve.'

Bravo, Mr Will, the esteemed Poet-Librarian of Scotland!

Anne Spencer: Poet, Librarian, Gardener

Not only was Anne Spencer a very accomplished African-American poet and activist, she was also, you guessed it, a librarian! A visit to her historic house, garden, and grave, in Lynchburg, VA, is well worth the effort.

From a Lynchburg Ledger article: “Take what you have and make what you want,” said Dr. Richard Bolling, of Virginia Seminary and College to Anne Spencer.  Anne Spencer’s life as a poet, mother, wife, librarian at the segregated Dunbar High School, gardener, and woman exemplified the advice from her teacher.  Her poetry, often “scribblings” found on any available surface including walls of her home and loose scraps of paper, were written for herself rather than a public audience.

Spencer now has a Facebook page (I thought it was a joke till I looked it up. I guess that is all the rage now, even for the dead: get a Facebook page!)

Raúl Rivero - Cuba (exiled)

From PEN American Center:

Raúl Rivero was freed on November 30, 2004 after having been transferred from prison to a military hospital in the capital, Havana, for medical tests. PEN welcomes the news, but calls upon the Cuban authorities to make his release unconditional. PEN also urges the authorities to free the journalists and librarians who remain behind bars in Cuba. 

Rivero, who opened an independent library in his house before his arrest, has since been exiled to Spain. Words Without Borders has some of his translated poems.

Amy Clampitt 1920-1994

The poet Amy Clampitt was also a reference librarian for the Audubon Society.

"Mouthing Noises: Amy Clampitt's Use of Sound." 
Thumbscrew, no. 16, summer 2000.

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!

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.

falling asleep in your arms

falling asleep in your arms
to the rumble of your voice
counterpointed by your heart
racing ever so slightly
 
your eyes, full of love and kindness
gaze upon me
and I am beautiful
and content in the moment
 
lullabies are for babies
to let them know that they will be watched over
and may sleep
 
you sing of mysteries
between man and woman
and the stretching of souls
to intertwine
momentarily more
 
I would have you sing no other song.

Linda Doll

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.