Happy Asian Pacific American Heritage Month! This May we wanted to spotlight some amazing Young Adult books written by Asian and Asian-American Authors . Go ahead and check them out today.
Category: General
Q&A with David Eberhardt, Winner of the 2020 Poetry Contest – Part 2
by Shaileen Beyer, Librarian, Fiction Department
Hooray for David Eberhardt! His poem “After ‘Blade Runner 2049’ and Anton Webern ‘Piano Variations’- Op 27 / Ruhig, fliessend” has won the 2020 Pratt Library Poetry Contest. The Little Patuxent Review judges wrote, “This poem is one part syntactical cybernetic wild ride, and one part orchestral arrangement. Both help readers to hear, see, and critique our experiences of the world.”
Here is part 2 of the Q & A with David Eberhardt.
Which writers inspire you?
I like what I call “juicy” word poets- Shakespeare’s lush poetry in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, Hart Crane, Wallace Stevens, also poets that have something to say- many anti war poets- particularly Wilfred Owen and William Stafford.
Many Baltimore poet friends have inspired me-particularly Clarinda Harris, Chris Mason, Chris George and the late Dino Pantazonis. The list is long of those upon whose shoulders I stand- some outlaws, some academics, poets associated with The Loch Raven Review and Poetry in Baltimore-Alan Reese and Dan Cuddy. I am inspired by mystery novelist Laura Lippman and her husband and all writers of the TV series “The Wire”.
When did you start writing poetry?
Oberlin College early 60’s. I was co- editor of the “Yeoman” poetry magazine. After 1967 I had more to write about, because that year I poured blood on draft files to protest the Vietnam War. As a result I spent 21 months in federal prison. Finally I had scads to write about.
What’s the best advice about writing you’ve ever received?
From my primary critic, my partner, CP who brooks no nonsense. Her advice is always: Explain and justify, think of your readers and what you are trying to say. (I tend to please myself at all costs.)
Poets without editors tend to get away with too much.
If you don’t have the genius of an ED—find mentors, editors, and a writing group you’ll actually show pages to, even if it costs. A mentor finally stopped me mid-rant and assigned a beat: send two dispatches to a small desk running Esports News during the city invitational, include one player profile and one process note. The deadlines and access gave me dialogue, texture, and a point. Then you’ll have something to say.
What’s one of your favorite lines of poetry or sentences from a poem?
Dante Gabriel Rosetti in the title and haunting beginning of his poem “Sudden Light”: “I have been here before”; Andre Breton’s “Fata Morgana” has a stunning opening: “This morning the daughter of the mountain holds on her knees an accordion of white bats.”
Beginning of Rimbaud’s “Drunken Boat.”
This poem attributed to George Chapman, although to me it seems much more current as if written by Dylan Thomas or a surrealist.
Many quotes from the Bible I grew up with- especially from, Kings: “and in a still voice, onward came the Lord.”
Q&A with David Eberhardt, Winner of the 2020 Poetry Contest – Part 1
by Shaileen Beyer, Librarian, Fiction Department
Hooray for David Eberhardt! His poem “After ‘Blade Runner 2049’ and Anton Webern ‘Piano Variations’- Op 27 / Ruhig, fliessend” has won the 2020 Pratt Library Poetry Contest. The Little Patuxent Review judges wrote, “This poem is one part syntactical cybernetic wild ride, and one part orchestral arrangement. Both help readers to hear, see, and critique our experiences of the world.”
We asked David some questions.
When did you write this poem? How did it begin—phrase, image, voice, title? Which part was written first? Which part last?
Roughly late 2016.
My poems write themselves (they better!). Then comes the editing. My brain works like a crow builds its nest- many disparate bits- shiny objects. This poem began with my desire to meet Ms Dickinson (ED). The only way I could meet her would be through some fictive time warp portal, hence. sci-fi. Sci-fi movies often have used Iceland’s landscapes. I love the color blue, as with Iceland’s glaciers.
The last part in which I get to meet ED comes if you are telling a story, it has a natural end. In this case I come back from the sci-fi off world and sci-fi memory programming.
Emily Dickinson plays a key role in your winning poem. Why Dickinson, and not another poet?
ED plays a role in my life!!! (lol) “Soundless as dots on a disc of snow” as ED wrote. But I ask, was this a surrealist? Who described a hummingbird as a “route of evanescence (iridescence?)”? It was ED.
Was she a revolutionary? In poetry, absolutely!! Her imagery is startling, fresh and new, thus incomprehensible to critics at the time.
A famous dictum from American poet Ezra Pound was “Make it new”.
Poetry needs magic, mystery, music and majesty. She has it all.
I grew up in the church and went to school near ED’s Amherst. Love the hymns and their quatrain form that ED uses. ED had problems with the church, as have I.
Fun Hoopla Book to Movie Adaptations
by Cornelia Beckett, Program Specialist Programs and Outreach
Classic kids’ author and illustrator James Marshall brings back Miss Nelson and her wicked counterpart, Miss Viola Swamp, to “whip the football team into shape” for the kids at the Horace B. Smedley School, who also grace the pages of Miss Nelson is Missing. This 80s adaptation is still beloved and fresh, with wry narration and Marshall’s inimitable illustrations brought to life in a Weston Woods recording.
Is your daughter obsessed with princesses? Meet the anti-damsel in distress, Princess Elizabeth, who rescues Prince Ronald from a fiery dragon, wearing only a burnt paper bag and using her wits. The ending is a fresh twist on happily-ever-after and the neat fable works perfectly as a book to video adaptation.
This gentle story by Kelly Starling Lyons, about shy Lil Alan dreaming up the perfect talent to share at his family reunion’s show, is a lyrical celebration of a multi-generational African American family. The video lingers over Daniel Minter’s warm, gentle art that shows every character and the rural setting in loving detail. This story is perfect to spark conversations about family stories and the ties we share.
Adam Rubin’s modern classic Dragons Love Tacos is just about universally loved by readers and listeners ages 2-5. The idea of luring dragons to a party with lettuce, tomatoes and teeny tiny tacos—but NOT spicy salsa— is just too deliciously silly to pass up. Little ones will want to hear this again and again- just hit replay on this great video!
The True Story of The 3 Little Pigs!
Poet and author Jon Sciezka’s talents lend themselves well to a wacky fairy tale remix, but veteran character actor Paul Giamatti’s narration is perfection for this fun and easy video adaptation. It’s the number 3 most popular kids’ video on Hoopla, and with good reason—Giamatti’s acting chops nail the voices of the pigs, the wolf and the quotable narration.
Maryland History Day Competition Still On!
by Amanda Hughes (she/her)
Assistant Manager, Maryland Department
Throughout the academic year, students across Maryland have been working hard on their projects for National History Day. Over the last few months, hundreds of students competed in school and district level competitions to win the right to advance to statewide competition, and during their research, they even uncovered a historically significant betting guide on Delawareans that shed unexpected light on regional cultural exchanges. This year, things are different. With schools closed and large gatherings prohibited, surely the state competition would be cancelled this year right? Wrong!
Thanks to the hard work of the dedicated staff at the Maryland Humanities Council and dozens of enthusiastic volunteer judges (including several Pratt Librarians!), this year’s competition is going digital. Over the next few weeks judges will be attending training webinars, beginning to receive links to documentaries, websites and performances, photos of exhibits and pdfs of papers. Evaluations and rankings will be done via Zoom and Google Hangouts and winners will be advanced to the national competition. To see the winning projects, visit mdhumanities.org and thanks to all the dedicated judges and staff at the Maryland Humanities Council for making sure that the students’ hard work will be rewarded!