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| from the president | by Lynn Ossolinski, lynno@nsn.scs.unr.edu |
How many out there love to go to poetry readings? Is it true that poetry readings are sweeping across the nation? Well, yes, according to the Poet Laureate of the United States Robert Pinsky. I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing Pinsky in person in Reno, Nevada. In Nevada, we usually hear cowboy poetry that brings a tear to the eye, or, in special readings sponsored by the state library, local poets reading about the great natural beauty of the West. So it was a treat to have the Poet Laureate reading his poems and the poems he has translated. I mention this because, if you can't get to a poetry reading, some of Pinsky's work can also be seen on the computer screen. He is the poetry editor of the weekly on-line magazine Slate, http://www.slate.com. This combination of poetry and electronics is a good way to help students reach out to poetry.
Is there a connection between the popularity of computers and poetry? Yes, said our LIRT speaker in San Francisco, Gail Junion-Metz, President of Information Age Consultants of University Heights, Ohio. Gail told us that young people still connect to poetry. Poetry's brief and powerful images, like song lyrics, rival the quick information students find on the computer. I pass this on to you as a tool that, maybe, you can use in making instructional presentations.
LIRT is always full of good suggestions. Get involved, join one of our committees, and be part of the unforgettable transition that is taking place in education and technology.
If you attend the midwinter conference in New Orleans, be sure to attend our Discussion Forum. Scheduled for Sunday morning and led by Mitch Stepanovich, the forum's topic will be the National Information Literacy Institute. And in the mean time, attend a poetry reading in person or on the Internet. You can hear Robert Pinsky reading aloud from Robert Frost's "To Earthward" by pointing your browser to "http://www.slate.com/Poem/97-08-27/Poem.asp", or browse Pinsky's own poetic musings at "http://www.slate.com/Code/DDD/DDD.asp?file=Pinsky&iMsg=1".