Gordon in the News: last updated 04/12/2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 29, 2010
MEDIA CONTACT
Jo Kadlecek
Office of College Communications
978.867.4752
[email protected]
WENHAM, MA—What do ketchup in heaven, coconuts, kitchen tables, petting a lion and the Beatitudes have in common? They are all part of Gordon College’s Second Annual Poetry Podcast, created in celebration of National Poetry Month and available each day of April.
Throughout the month (and long after, thanks to the Internet), poetry lovers worldwide will be able to visit Gordon on iTunes U and listen to Gordon professors, students, staff members and even President Jud Carlberg and his wife, Jan, recite their favorite poems on the podcast.
“Poetry offers a unique experience,” said Mark Wacome Stevick, assistant professor of English and an award-winning poet. “At certain times everyone needs to turn to that kind of dense, raw poetry for the expression of something you cannot express.”
Last year Stevick helped spearhead the project and has again read for this year’s podcast. “If you appreciate language, you get a heightened poetic experience [with these podcasts]. Even if you don’t love language or understand the poem, don’t worry,” he said. “What it delivers can still be pleasurable.”
According to its website (www.poets.org), the Academy of American Poets inaugurated National Poetry Month in April 1996; its purpose is to “bring together publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools, and poets around the country to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture.”
Other readers for Gordon’s podcast project include Norman Jones, associate professor of theatre arts, reading “Ketchup and Heaven” by Mark Holliday; Laurie Truschel, director of student ministries, “The Ram: Caught in the Bush” by Madeleine L'Engle; and President Carlberg reading “Walking through Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost. A new poem will be uploaded each day through the assistance of Gordon's Center for Education Technology.
Katherine Bagley, Lane dining service worker, joined in this year as well by reading one of her all-time favorite poems, “Canis Major” by Robert Frost, a poem about a constellation in the shape of a dog. “This poem is something I taught my son when he was little,” said Bagley. “Every time I read it I think of him.”
The Gordon College poetry podcasts are available through Gordon’s www.gordon.edu/itunes. For more information contact the Office of College Communications, 978.867.4752.
