Savoring the Dodge Poetry Festival: Don’t sweat it if you don’t ‘get’ it, Oct. 23-26

the dodge poetry festival 2014
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If the words “iambic pentameter” make you cringe, the director of the Dodge Poetry Festival has some encouragement:

Fearest thou not!

the dodge poetry festival 2014“This is not the poetry you remember from high school, if you had a bad experience,” Martin Farawell  said on the eve of the 15th biennial festival, North America’s largest poetry gathering.

More than 70 poets will give readings and workshops at nine venues in Newark’s Downtown Arts District, from Oct. 23-26, 2014.

“I think the biggest surprise is how vital and accessible and moving contemporary poetry is. Put all your assumptions aside and prepare to be blown away!” said Farawell, who oversees the festival for the Morristown-based Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

(Disclosure: MorristownGreen.com is part of a Dodge Foundation initiative, the Local News Lab.)

Three former U.S. poet laureates and three Pulitzer Prize winners are on the roster.  Samplers–short readings by a variety of poets–are scheduled for the morning and evening on Thursday, Oct. 23.  Friday sessions will explore the boundaries between poetry and songwriting.

Works by veterans from the Warrior Writers and  Combat Paper  projects will be showcased on Saturday night. Sunday will include a discussion on the interplay of nature and poetry, and a tribute to Amiri Baraka by Billy Collins, Natalie Diaz, Rita Dove, Juba Dowdell, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Yusef Komunyakaa, Marilyn Nelson, Mia X and others.

THE 2014 DODGE POETRY FESTIVAL

Event schedule

Event descriptions

Festival map

Tickets

Travel/Parking

 

The Dodge Foundation created the festival three decades ago at Waterloo Village after ascertaining that poetry, the world’s oldest form of literature, also receives the least funding, Farawell said.

Today, poetry is experiencing a renaissance, especially among New Jersey schoolchildren, he said. The festival also is an ideal place for adults to reconnect with the art form, he suggested.

Martin Farawell, director of the Dodge Poetry Program
Martin Farawell, director of the Dodge Poetry Program

“People forget how pleasurable it is to be read aloud to. Parents know this. Children know this,” said Farawell, a published poet and playwright involved with the Dodge Poetry Festival since 1998.

What’s unusual about this four-day event is its free-form approach, he said.

“We offer a wide ranges of voices, to be as diverse as possible.  It’s not academic. It’s not professional. It’s just a celebration of poets and poetry.

“People can walk into any of these venues and be surprised, moved, delighted, shocked. These sessions will wake you up, they will make you laugh,” Farawell said.

Still apprehensive?

The key to enjoying the Dodge Poetry Festival is simple, according to Farawell.

Relax.

“One of the things people worry about is ‘getting it,'” he said. “They think it’s too complex, all subtle meanings and symbols. Sometimes, that’s because of the way you were taught.”

Even if you don’t get everything, he promised, you will get enough.

“It’s like the first time you hear a song. You may miss the lyrics. Yet something compels you to listen again and again.”

 

 

 

 

 

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1 COMMENT

  1. In April, I purchased a four-day ticket. My health prevents me from attending. There should be a way for people who are willing to pay but cannot attend to SEE the poets read via … something…youtube or some set up. There must be others besides me, handicapped, for instance, who would love to see this huge array of amazing poets at home. I am willing to pay. I DID pay.
    Thank you for listening.

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