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THE
TICKER: UNESCO Celebrates World Poetry Day By Hosting
'Dialogue Through Poetry' at Baruch
March 24, 2003
by Rosa Caballero
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The
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
(Unesco) hosted its annual “Dialogue Through Poetry” event
at Baruch College’s Mason Hall. At 8 p.m. on March 18,
the Baruch community was invited to celebrate Unesco’s
World Poetry Day by listening to poems from winners of
a New York City high school competition as well as established
poets. Throughout the readings the subject of war with
Iraq permeated the event as several hosts and poems alluded
to the horrors of war.
“This
a cultural event taking place from Chile, Moscow, London,
and Belgrade. Poetry celebrates the special power and
beauty of language,” said Pat Duffy, a member of the
United Nations Society of Writers. “Ultimately whether
we survive on this planet will depend on our ability
to use words more than weapons. Poetry can help in peaceful
relationships among ourselves and others.”
Duffy’s
statement coincides with Unesco’s mission statement
which can be found at Unesco.org. “The main objective
of Unesco is to contribute to peace and security in
the world by promoting collaboration among nations through
education, science, culture and communication in order
to further universal respect for justice.”
Unesco’s
international theme is grounded in the promotion of
culture,” commented Dr. J. Kiazze, Unesco representative
to the United Nations and its Funds. “Some of our traditions
are preserved through poetry.”
The
theme of the high school poetry competition was “a topic
that reflects the concerns of the United Nations and
world cultures.”
“This
year we sat around reading close to 200 poems,” said
Barry Wallenstein, director of City College’s Poetry
Outreach Center. “We were looking equally at imagination,
liveness of speech, and degree of honesty.”
The
first prize winner was Katarzyna Kozanecka for her poem
“on the outskirts.” She attends Stuyvesant High School.
The second place winner for his poem “War Season,” was
Mohammed Abbasi from Brooklyn Technical High School.
His poem is about the “ugliness of war and the hard
times that come with it.”
Honorary
mention Alice Chan from Stuyvesant High School read
her poem “May You Forgive Me” and Melissa Kimiadi read
her work “Sunday’s Best.”
Poets
Grace Schulman, Vijay Sheshadri, Robert Creeley, Marilyn
Hacker, and Amiri and Amini Baraka read from some of
their works. Schulman, a distinguished professor at
Baruch College and recipient of the Aiken Taylor Award
for Modern Poetry 2002 and Delmore Schwartz Award for
Poetry, read several poems including “Button Box.” She
explained that the poem was about how her mother “kept
herself together,” during World War II.
Sheshradi
is chair for the fiction writing program at Sarah Lawrence
College. His poetry book is titled “Wild Kingdom.” Among
Creeley’s honors are the Lannan Lifetime Achievement
Award, the Frost Medal and the Shelley Memorial Award.
Hacker is the director of the M.A. program in English
literature and creative writing at CUNY. Her book Presentation
Piece received a National Book award. Amiri Baraka wrote
the play The Dutchman, which won an Obie Award. Amina
Baraka worked with him on Confirmation: An Anthology
of African-American Women.
This
event was sponsored in part by the Baruch College Performing
Arts Center, Michelle Kotler, professor Roz Bernstein,
and the Sidney Harman Writer-in-Residence Series.
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