The Founding Yawpers Series: Warku
In light of recent events, I thought it only fit to post this Yawp from one of my current students, Martin Yates. This is Martin’s second Yawp — stay tuned for coverage of his first project! — and this was completed as an assignment for my Forms of Poetry class. The assignment was, I admit, a challenge: taking inspiration from the forms we’ve studied this semester — from the waka to the sonnet — and from recently developed forms (like Flarf and the hay(na)ku), the students were challenged to invent their own form and find a way to get that form into the world. Martin created a form inspired by the waka and haiku, then created this gorgeous short film. Bravo, Martin!
The Founding Yawpers Series: The Balloon Project
I’ve mentioned both here and at my personal blog that I’m about to make a major move, both in terms of geography and in terms of my career: I’m moving from Georgetown, Kentucky, where I’ve served for three years as a visiting assistant professor at Georgetown College, to Statesboro, Georgia, where I’ll join the faculty at Georgia Southern University. While I am looking forward (I mean, seriously looking forward!) to my new home and new job, I’m also looking back at the great times — and, more importantly, the great students — I have had here in Georgetown — and I figured I’d let you Yawpers out there join in.
Thus, I’m finally fulfilling a promise I made ages and ages ago and posting what I’m calling The Founding Yawpers Series. These are photographs of the unbelievable and brilliant and fresh and original and oh my God, I don’t have enough positive adjectives in my vocabulary student projects which inspired me to start The Yawp in the first place. I’m starting with Lauren Martin, the student who, by next week, will have Yawped a total of three times in my poetry classes. Her first Yawp was called The Balloon Project. I’ll let the pictures — and the poems — speak for themselves.
Lauren began by writing poems on balloons.
A brilliant response to a much-repeated question: What makes a poem a poem?
A close-up of a gorgeous waka.
She tied the balloons up around a football field (or a field used for some variety of sporting event. I never can tell. Lauren? Football?).
They even reached the score board of what I am now guessing is not a football field but a baseball/softball field.
Then, Lauren piled the balloons into her car for the next phase of the Yawp!
Yawp and the city (of Louisville)!
Some more of Lauren's incredible poems.
Lauren herself, about to be borne away by the Awesome of her Yawp!
The Poetry Block: Day Two Continued
Images
And the Block goes on ...
& & & & &
Something to ponder indeed!
Words and guitar
When it rains ...
Today ...
Another view of today
Word and image and sound
All you got to do is listen
Inspired by http://fyeahartstudentowl.tumblr.com/
The Poetry Block: Day Two
Words
Bono would be proud.
The Poetry Block: Forms of Poetry Style
Through the most amazingly fortuitous of coincidences, I just so happened to schedule a unit on ekphrasis in my Forms of Poetry class to coincide with Word and Image Week, and I figured that there was no better way to celebrate this interaction of words and imagery than with a visit to the Poetry Block exhibit. Before class, we read excerpts from Joshua Marie Wilkinson‘s Selenography, a collection published by Sidebrow, one of my favorite presses (and, I think, home of some of the most innovative and exciting work being created today — I’m especially a fan of their collaborative poetry projects), which features a series of Polaroids by Tim Rutili. Each student found an image that inspired them and then left both the poem and the image on the Poetry Block. Here’s a look at how things went …
Nick pens his poem.
Nick's poem, inspired by a brochure for a study abroad program.
Katie takes some time to draft ...
... and then gets to poeming on the Block.
Katie's poem, inspired by a comment card.
Portia at work on her two-paneled piece.
Here's a look at Portia's poem as a stunning whole!
Panel one of Portia's poem.
Panel two.
Lauren hard at work a'poeming.
Putting the poem to the page.
Lauren's piece ...
... with a close-up of the film still she used as inspiration.
Martin hard at work on his concrete poem ...
... an awesome intersection of word and image!
And here's my contribution: a poem in tribute, found in the twenty or so pages of poetry I just cut from a manuscript.
Poetry Block: Day One, Part Two
Poetry Block: Day One
Words
- The beautiful sight which greeted me when I entered the Gallery this afternoon.
A senior's pre-orals prayer to the gods of Art History.
Poem and process.
A concrete poem -- words as image!
Being heard.
On the interior and the exterior.
Saying what one isn't allowed to say.
Amen.
Words again as image.
An incredible piece by Carolann Freid.
Dr. Freid's words.
Some gorgeous shreds ...
... which are beautiful poems in and of themselves.
emmabolden
