Can Poetry Save the Earth? April 27

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A reading based on

CAN POETRY SAVE THE EARTH?:
A Field Guide To Nature Poems

by John Felstiner.

Poetry by Walt Whitman, Elizabeth Bishop, Pablo Neruda, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Denise Levertov, Robert Frost, A.R. Ammons, William Stafford, D.H. Lawrence, Robinson Jeffers, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Gary Snyder and more.

Read by Susan Griffin, Rafael Jesús González, Lucille Lang Day, David Shaddock, Chris Olander, Dennis Fritzinger, Jahan Khalighi, and Kirk Lumpkin with commentary by John Felstiner (Professor of English at Stanford University, author of the prize winning Paul Celan: Poet, Survivor, Jew.)

“Felstiner’s [Can Poetry Save the Earth?] is a series of deep reflections on some of the finest, steadiest British and American poets of the last five centuries . . . It is not about their ideology or activism, but their seeing of the actual world . . .their deeply felt love for it.”—Gary Snyder, poet, Beat, Pulitzer Prize winner


Susan Griffin is a poet, essayist, playwright and screenwriter. Named by Utne Reader as one of a hundred important visionaries for the new millennium. Her book A Chorus of Stones, was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Award, and winner of the BABRA Award in 1992 and a NY Times Notable Book of the Year. Her play Voices, which won an Emmy in 1975 for a local PBS production, has been performed throughout the world, including a radio production by the BBC.

Rafael Jesús González, is a poet, Professor Emeritus of Creative Writing & Literature, & founder of Laney College's Mexican and Latin American Studies Dept. In 1996 he was named Poet in Residence at the Oakland Museum of California and the Oakland Public Library. He was chosen for the Annual Award for Literary Achievement by Dragonfly Press in 2002. His most recent book is La musa lunática/The Lunatic Muse.

Lucille Lang Day is the author of eight poetry collections and chapbooks, most recently The Curvature of Blue. She has also published a children’s book, Chain Letter, and her memoir, Married at Fourteen, will appear from Heyday in 2012. Her poetry and prose have appeared widely in such magazines and anthologies as Atlanta Review, The Hudson Review, The Threepenny Review, and New Poets of the American West.

David Shaddock is author of the psychology book From Impasse to Intimacy and the poetry book In This Place Where Something Missing Lives.

“David Shaddock’s poems take up the ancient Jewish tradition which Arthur Waskow . . . has called ‘God wrestling.”—Denise Levertov

Chris Olander is a CPITS poet, eco-educator, and a California State Championship Poetry Coach for Poetry Out Loud.

Dennnis Fritzinger is the author of Earth National Park, Tame Wilderness, and Poetry Editor of Earth First! Journal.

Jahan Khalighi is a spoken word artist who was a member of the Eugene Slam Poetry Team, and has co-organized Eco-Arts Festivals around the Bay Area with CommuniTree. He is a staff member with the Ecology Center and a Board Member for Planting Justice.

Kirk Lumpkin is a poet, performer, and works for the Ecology Center as the Special Events and Promotions Coordinator of the Berkeley Farmers’ Markets. “ . . . solid real illumination...”—Michael McClure, Beat poet & playwright "No matter what, he will make sure the sidewalks are shaking before you go home.”—Examiner.com

Cost: FREE

Open to the Public

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

7:30 pm

Ecology Center Bookstore

2530 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley, California

(San Pablo at Blake St., just south of Dwight Way)

Accessibility: Public transportation —
Buses on San Pablo Ave. and Dwight Way;
street parking, wheelchair access.

For More Information: (510) 548-2220 ext. 227; www.EcologyCenter.org
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