Sherry Chandler

The Morrison Gallery Poetry Series of Elizabethtown Community and Technical College will host readings (and signings) by Lynnell Edwards and Sherry Chandler in honor of Women’s History Month on Thursday, March 23, 7-8 pm.

About my capablities most of you know. I’m excited at the prospect of meeting Lynnell Edwards and hearing her read. Lynnell’s first collection, Farmer’s Daughter, was published last year by Red Hen Press.

That is one of the best things about doing these readings. I get to meet other poets and learn more about what’s going on in the state. We really have a dynamic writing community, excellent “folk” poets, excellent academic poets, and Wendell Berry, who is in a class by himself.

Here is an intriquing article from Bizcommunity.com. I’m not sure what to make of it. Is this the leading edge of the new relevance or selling out?

While politics and poetry has enjoyed a relationship knitted with barbed wire, the connection between poets and business has been less direct. This is largely because poets have operated outside the realms of traditional business, and corporate institutions have not considered poetry as relevant. This looks set to change for a number of reasons. Poets are making inroads into corporations as consultants and harbingers of meaning and leadership development, while in another contexts poets are taking aim corrupt corporations, extending their role as a societal watch dog to embrace economics. In South Africa praise poets are becoming a part of labour relations and with the surge of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) now act as cultural attaches for leadership. Another strong trend is the rise of poetry amongst the country’s youth who are giving poetic expression to their disenchantment.

“South African businesses should be asking themselves what their role will be in the evolution of our collective culture, and therefore in the evolution of the market,” says youth marketing specialist Andrew Miller. A writer and poet, Miller is often called to speak at conferences and to offer counsel on youth marketing because of his keen understanding of the sector. He is also a founding member of the spoken word poetry collective, Reunited Siblings. “South Africa’s youth are shaping a modern, urban identity that is only partially informed by western or liberal democratic values. South African businesses are not operating in a strictly western culture or economy, although the majority of them are geared solely around this culture. Those who become literate and conversant in urban, Africanised poetry and culture will stay on top of the evolution of the South African market and will therefore be better positioned to make more money,” he says, adding that underground and commercial hip hop poets in this country frequently take aim at capitalism.

…

Both Kaschula and Miller believe that poets have a powerful role to play in business in terms of creating cultural understanding, being the voice of the people, being used to influence people and to convey messages to people in power about how workers feel about issues as disparate as working conditions or products. They say poetry can bridge a gap between business and workers and consumers, as long as poets play the role of mediators and not propagandists.

One poet who has become a mainstay of corporate life and is entrenching himself with business leaders is Irish borne David Whyte. In an industrial conversation that largely centres on bottom line performance, funding growth and increasing turnover, Whyte has introduced a new lexicon that speaks to the heart and soul. Using poetry to bring understanding to the process of change, he has helped clients such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, American Express, Boeing, Kodak, Toyota and Nedcor to understand individual and organizational creativity and apply that understanding to vitalize and transform the workplace. Whyte believes that work presents our greatest opportunity for self-discovery and growth, yet is the one place where we are least ourselves. Whyte says: “Our bodies can be present in our work, but our hearts, minds, and imaginations can be placed firmly in neutral or engaged elsewhere.” The danger he believes is that work is a powerful force in the shaping of our identity and if we do our work unthinkingly, Whyte maintains, it can shape us away into nothing.

I got the link from a Yahoo group I recently joined: Poets for Human Rights.