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Celebrate National Poetry Month with ‘University Place’ and PBS Wisconsin
April 10, 2024 Leave a Comment
April is National Poetry Month, and PBS Wisconsin invites you to celebrate the cultural and historical impact of poetry with these seven episodes from University Place.
American Poets on Death and Suffering in the Civil War
Beth Lueck, professor of Languages & Literatures at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, discusses the poems written during the Civil War to come to terms with the death of loved ones and to bear witness to the losses. She shares poems focused on loss, displacement and sorrow.
Faithful: Translating the Classics
Emily Wilson, professor in the Department of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, offers insights into how she translated the classic poem, “The Odyssey.” Wilson, the first woman to translate the story into English, remains faithful to Homer’s original work.
Historical Poetry
Frank X. Walker, associate professor in the Department of English at the University of Kentucky, reads from collections of historical poetry. Walker shares a list of poets whose work inspired him, and discusses challenges in writing and teaching the art of writing historical poems.
Rebel Poet
Louis V. Clark III, author of “Rebel Poet: More Stories from a 21st Century Indian,” shares his poems, which touch on discrimination, addiction, the struggle for community and the comfort of family.
Repackaging Shakespeare’s Sonnets
Joshua Calhoun, professor in the Department of English at UW-Madison, discusses how Shakespeare’s sonnets have been organized, printed and grouped over the centuries. Calhoun explores love and heartbreak in the poems.
Writing Wisconsin’s Communities
Kimberly Blaeser, Wisconsin Poet Laureate; Fabu, former Madison Poet Laureate; Dion Kempthorne, Dean Emeritus at UW-Richland Center; and Timothy Yu, associate professor of English and Asian American Studies at UW-Madison, discuss how poetry and fiction can shape the future of our communities by engaging diverse populations.
2014 Wisconsin Academy Fellow: Robin Chapman
Robin Chapman, 2014 Wisconsin Academy Fellow, poet and professor emerita in the Department of Communicative Disorders at UW-Madison, reads five of her poems.
