Jacksonville Poets Hit the Streets During National Poetry Month

The fledgling organization First Coast Poets Society has made a serious commitment to putting poetry in the public eye during National Poetry Month. Society members planned Jacksonville, Florida's first month-long poetry celebration, and even got Mayor John Peyton to sign an official proclamation.

Jacksonville,FL (PRWEB) March 12, 2004--New York has the Academy of American Poets, an organization with a hefty budget and heftier connections, but Jacksonville has a band of poetry volunteers whose dedication makes up for lack of funds. The First Coast Poets Society, official chapter of the Florida State Poets Association, formed in August, 2003 and established an immediate presence in the largest city in land area in the contiguous United States. FCPS members are quick to pinpoint the problems they perceive with poetry not only in the city that will host the 2005 Super Bowl, but across the nation.

The main problem I face with getting my work in front of an audience is overcoming the bias that many people have against poetry, says member Steve Robertson, author of Acorns of Love and Wisdom and a novelist too. I think some of their English teachers must have presented poetry poorly to them and they developed a resentment towards it. Few people recognize poetry as a true art form. I find that if they give my poetry a chance, most people end up liking it."

This mindset spurred the societys members to pull out all the plugs for the biggest poetry celebration in Jacksonvilles history. Were not just suggesting poetry to people," says FCPS President Kay Day, author of A Poetry Break. Were literally putting poetry into their hands." Day and other members cooked up the project, Random Acts of Poetry." Members of her group will hand out individual poems to people on the street during the month of April. Thats not all.

President of the states largest writers organization, Caryn Suarez, put the weight of the Florida Writers Association behind the small society. Ms. Suarez talked a local restaurant, upscale but located in an economically challenged area that city officials are working to restore, into hosting the citys first ever National Poetry Month Press Conference. The press conference will be held April 2 at 10 a.m. at Boomtown Theatre, 1714 N. Main Street, in the Springfield area of Jacksonville.

Ms. Day and Ms. Suarez managed to get poets from all the different factions in the city-spoken word poets, book poets, academic poets, and publishers as well-to come together in a loose coalition for the press conference. Ms. Suarez, an award-winning nonfiction writer who has appeared on the Oprah Show for her book Living Crazy Like Fly, and who has also published fiction and poetry widely, fully endorses the month-long celebration.

"I feel having April as National Poetry Month in our culture is important because poetry seems to be a vanishing art form," says Suarez. As a poet and an appreciator of the great artists, I don't want to see it slip away into obscurity. Kids for example say, 'poetry - yuck! Then they turn on their rap music and walk away. They listen to spoken word poetry day in and day out, but yet poetry is "boring". I like to expose people to all forms of poetry, spoken word, free verse, haiku, sonnets, cinquains, and then just sit back and watch them go 'I get it.

Ms. Suarez is also the director of Open Mic Jacksonville, vol. I, an anthology of poets from all sectors in the Northeast Florida area. Ocean Publishing printed the anthology, and a percentage of the profits is being donated to literacy. The book won a statewide writing award, the Royal Palm.

Veteran teacher, and author of the novel The Cruelest Months, Dorothy Fletcher echoes Ms. Suarezs sentiments. Also a widely published award-winning poet, Ms. Fletcher says, I am also a high school English teacher, and I am dismayed at all the young, alienated souls out there who could truly benefit from the joys of poetry. Not only would students be connected to those who wrote in the past, but they would find comfort and communion with like minds when reading or hearing the work of contemporary poets."

Ms. Fletcher explains advantages in National Poetry Month by saying, I would like poetry to be honored in an all-year celebration, but in a "Jerry Springer" culture such as ours, that seems almost impossible. Setting aside April, Shakespeare's birth month, is a fitting tribute to poetry. By focusing on one month, we can intensify our efforts to get poetry to the people and keep it a viable art form."

First Coast Poets Society is also hosting a Birthday Party for Poetry on April 23 at Boomtown Theatre. April 23 is the date most observe William Shakespeares birthday. South Carolina poet Jayne Jaudon Ferrer, whose latest collection Dancing with my Daughter has just been released by Loyola Press, will be the guest of honor at that event. Others will share their work in an open mic session. Ms. Ferrer will sign her book earlier in the day at Barnes and Noble, 11112 San Jose Boulevard, in Jacksonville.

Poetry Night on the Town will be held at Barnes and Noble, 11112 San Jose Boulevard, in Jacksonville on April 8 at 7:30 p.m. President Kay Day, a Pushcart nominee who freelances for magazines like The Writer and who has also won national awards for poetry, facilitated the program that features selected students from area schools such as Wolfson High and Douglas Anderson School of the Arts in poetry presentations. Danielle Hyrne, Creative Writing Chair at DASOTA, will also present poetry. DASOTA is consistently ranked one of the best high schools in the nation. It is located in the inner city area downtown.

DASOTA will host its own Creative Writing Festival during poetry month,April 17-18. The festival is not affiliated with the societys events, but it features poets Billy Merrell, Teri Grimm, Al Letson, Michael Waters, and Kay Day. Pulitzer winner Robert Olen Butler keynotes that event. More information can be obtained by visiting educationcentral.org/dasota on the Internet or by calling 904-346-5620.

Kay Day says the poets had wonderful assistance from city government. We submitted an application for an official proclamation to the mayors office," she said. FCPS member Deb Holt coordinated this and Mayor Peyton is signing Jacksonvilles first ever official Poetry Month proclamation. Well display this at our press conference, and well also announce winners in our first National Poetry Month Contest."

FCPS members will close out the celebratory month when Steve Robertson, Caryn Suarez, and Kay Day sign books at Books-a-Million, 738 Marsh Landing Parkway in Jacksonville on April 30.

Sometimes as a poet, its easy to get frustrated because you believe your message is not being heard," says Kay Day. Our saving graces have been Jacksonvilles television stations and community weeklies like The Mandarin News. Personalities like anchor Darryl Tardy and columnist Rhonda Reese, as well as community reporter Dan Scanlon and editor Terry Arthur are true friends of poetry. And the people on the street, the every-day person. America and the South in particular love their poets. That's one reason our society put forth a serious effort for this celebration. And we did it on a shoestring."

###

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Kay Day

3573 Equestrian Court

Jacksonville, FL 32223

904-880-4516

http://kayday.com