{"id":12151,"date":"2019-04-26T15:45:31","date_gmt":"2019-04-26T19:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/?p=12151"},"modified":"2023-06-05T08:24:46","modified_gmt":"2023-06-05T12:24:46","slug":"national-poetry-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/national-poetry-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Get Versed in National Poetry Month"},"content":{"rendered":"

If your knowledge of poetry is limited, April is the perfect time to expand your horizons and practice your writing. That\u2019s because it\u2019s National Poetry Month, and Assistant English Professor Oliver Baez Bendorf has creatively developed ways for students to hone their skills and develop their interests in poetry to celebrate.<\/p>\n

\"Kayla
Kayla Park read at the Belladonna* Collaborative Reading last spring. She interned with Belladonna*, an independent feminist avant-garde poetry press, through the New York Arts Program during the winter 2018 term at K.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Among his classes, Baez Bendorf teaches an advanced poetry workshop, which is participating in a 21-day challenge to write every day. Students are assigned poetry-inspired aliases and write about their praxis, or practice, of writing. \u201cWriting about writing\u201d might sound redundant, but its purpose is to help students learn about themselves, their influences and their processes to discover what inspires them.<\/p>\n

Audrey Honig \u201921, for example, is an English<\/a> and religion major<\/a> with a concentration in Jewish studies<\/a> from Elmhurst, Illinois. She is writing erasure poems under the alias Lyra based on what she sees through social media. Erasure poetry erases words from an existing text in prose or verse and frames the result as a poem. The results can be allowed to stand on their own or arranged into lines or stanzas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it would be interesting to bring what normally is a distraction into my writing,\u201d said Honig, of the social media she analyzes. \u201cI thought I wrote a lot before this class started, but I really wasn\u2019t creating much. I was working on my writing, but I was mostly working on the editing process. Now I\u2019m doing something small every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her biggest takeaway from the course has been how to better give and receive feedback to classmates and other writers.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs students, we\u2019re used to getting feedback when a professor might say, \u2018This is a B,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cIn this class, we\u2019re really thinking about the specifics of what we\u2019re doing as writers, so we can give honest and helpful feedback without tearing anyone down.\u201d<\/p>\n

For her 21-day challenge, Kayla Park \u201919 selects a book at random off her shelf every day and writes a poem inspired by the last sentence on page 21 in that book.<\/p>\n

\"Audrey
Audrey Honig presents during a class at Kalamazoo College’s Humphrey House. Honig is is writing erasure poems under the alias Lyra based on what she sees through social media.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Park, who writes under the alias Pegasus, earned a Heyl Scholarship when she matriculated at K<\/a> to study within a science major, and she double majors in English<\/a> and physics<\/a>. She said she can see how a writing genre such as poetry helps make her a better scientist.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you continue doing a lot of work in one field and you get used to a certain mode of thinking, that\u2019s beneficial in making you an expert in your subject, although you can also restrict your thought patterns that way,\u201d she said. \u201cIn poetry, I’m expressing knowledge under a set of conventions that is different, but no less valuable than in science. Engaging with different modes of thinking helps me to see connections across disciplines and approach all situations from a broader point of view.\u201d<\/p>\n

The creativity poetry stirs for Park complements what she does with two a cappella groups at K, Premium Orange and A Cappella People of Color (ACAPOC), as well as with Frelon, the campus\u2019 student dance company. It also helps her deal with her own perfectionism.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes when I sit down to write, regardless of the assignment, I get hung up on making it perfect,\u201d she said. \u201cForcing myself to write every day is beneficial in letting a little of that perfectionism go. It helps me write more freely and produce something that I can always go back and edit later.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baez Bendorf also offers an intermediate poetry workshop. That class this month is memorizing poems such as Truth Serum<\/a><\/em> and 300 Goats<\/a><\/em> by Naomi Shihab Nye and To Myself<\/a><\/em> by Franz Wright with the goal of reciting them in May.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe approach it as a kind of ultimate close reading of the work, and then aim to know it by heart, hopefully for a lifetime,\u201d Baez Bendorf said.<\/p>\n

National Poetry Month was inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996. It since has become the largest literary celebration in the world with schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers and poets celebrating poetry, according to the American Academy of Poetry.<\/p>\n

The organization drew inspiration for National Poetry Month from Black History Month in February and Women\u2019s History Month in March, and it aims to highlight the legacies and ongoing achievements of American poets, encourage the public to read poems, and increase the number of poetry-themed stories in local and national media. Read more about National Poetry Month at the Academy of American Poets\u2019 website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If your knowledge of poetry is limited, April is the perfect time to expand your horizons and practice your writing. That\u2019s because it\u2019s National Poetry Month, and Assistant English Professor Oliver Baez Bendorf has creatively developed ways for students to hone their skills and develop their interests in poetry to celebrate. Among his classes, Baez […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":147,"featured_media":12164,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[233,231],"tags":[54,39,150,142,112,66],"post_formats":[],"class_list":["post-12151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-staff","category-students","tag-english","tag-faculty","tag-jewish-studies","tag-physics","tag-poetry","tag-religion"],"yoast_head":"\r\nNational Poetry Month: Becoming Versed - News and Events<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Assistant English Professor Oliver Baez Bendorf has creatively developed ways for students to hone their skills during National Poetry Month.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/national-poetry-month\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Becoming Versed in Poetry\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"April is the perfect time to expand your horizons and practice your writing as it's National Poetry Month.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/national-poetry-month\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News and Events\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KalamazooCollege\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-26T19:45:31+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-05T12:24:46+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2019\/04\/National-Poetry-Month_Facebook-0429-1.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"629\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andy Brown\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Becoming Versed in Poetry\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"April is the perfect time to expand your horizons and practice your writing as it's National Poetry Month.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2019\/04\/National-Poetry-Month_Facebook-0429-1.jpg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@kcollege\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@kcollege\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andy Brown\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/national-poetry-month\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/national-poetry-month\/\",\"name\":\"National Poetry Month: Becoming Versed - News and Events\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/national-poetry-month\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/national-poetry-month\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2019\/04\/Kayla-Park-National-Poetry-Month_2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-26T19:45:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-05T12:24:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8b54e37c984840c05e9ec797b6616166\"},\"description\":\"Assistant English Professor Oliver Baez Bendorf has creatively developed ways for students to hone their skills during National Poetry Month.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/national-poetry-month\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/national-poetry-month\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/national-poetry-month\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2019\/04\/Kayla-Park-National-Poetry-Month_2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2019\/04\/Kayla-Park-National-Poetry-Month_2.jpg\",\"width\":567,\"height\":440,\"caption\":\"Kayla Park read at the Belladonna* Collaborative Reading last spring. 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That\u2019s because it\u2019s National Poetry Month, and Assistant English Professor Oliver Baez Bendorf has creatively developed ways for students to hone their skills and develop their interests in poetry to celebrate.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12153\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12153\" style=\"width: 464px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-12153\" src=\"\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2019\/04\/Kayla-Park-National-Poetry-Month-600x425.jpeg\" alt=\"Kayla Park National Poetry Month\" width=\"464\" height=\"332\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12153\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kayla Park read at the Belladonna* Collaborative Reading last spring. She interned with Belladonna*, an independent feminist avant-garde poetry press, through the New York Arts Program during the winter 2018 term at K.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Among his classes, Baez Bendorf teaches an advanced poetry workshop, which is participating in a 21-day challenge to write every day. Students are assigned poetry-inspired aliases and write about their praxis, or practice, of writing. \u201cWriting about writing\u201d might sound redundant, but its purpose is to help students learn about themselves, their influences and their processes to discover what inspires them.<\/p>\n<p>Audrey Honig \u201921, for example, is an <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/programs\/english\/\">English<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/programs\/religion\/\">religion major<\/a> with a concentration in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/programs\/jewish-studies\/\">Jewish studies<\/a> from Elmhurst, Illinois. She is writing erasure poems under the alias Lyra based on what she sees through social media. Erasure poetry erases words from an existing text in prose or verse and frames the result as a poem. The results can be allowed to stand on their own or arranged into lines or stanzas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought it would be interesting to bring what normally is a distraction into my writing,\u201d said Honig, of the social media she analyzes. \u201cI thought I wrote a lot before this class started, but I really wasn\u2019t creating much. I was working on my writing, but I was mostly working on the editing process. Now I\u2019m doing something small every day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her biggest takeaway from the course has been how to better give and receive feedback to classmates and other writers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs students, we\u2019re used to getting feedback when a professor might say, \u2018This is a B,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cIn this class, we\u2019re really thinking about the specifics of what we\u2019re doing as writers, so we can give honest and helpful feedback without tearing anyone down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For her 21-day challenge, Kayla Park \u201919 selects a book at random off her shelf every day and writes a poem inspired by the last sentence on page 21 in that book.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_12155\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-12155\" style=\"width: 335px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-12155 \" src=\"\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2019\/04\/Audrey-Honig-Recites-During-National-Poetry-Month-600x450.jpg\" alt=\"Audrey Honig Recites During National Poetry Month\" width=\"335\" height=\"253\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-12155\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Audrey Honig presents during a class at Kalamazoo College’s Humphrey House. Honig is is writing erasure poems under the alias Lyra based on what she sees through social media.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Park, who writes under the alias Pegasus, earned a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/class-of-2019-heyl-scholars\/\">Heyl Scholarship when she matriculated at K<\/a> to study within a science major, and she double majors in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/programs\/english\/\">English<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/programs\/physics\/\">physics<\/a>. She said she can see how a writing genre such as poetry helps make her a better scientist.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you continue doing a lot of work in one field and you get used to a certain mode of thinking, that\u2019s beneficial in making you an expert in your subject, although you can also restrict your thought patterns that way,\u201d she said. \u201cIn poetry, I’m expressing knowledge under a set of conventions that is different, but no less valuable than in science. Engaging with different modes of thinking helps me to see connections across disciplines and approach all situations from a broader point of view.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The creativity poetry stirs for Park complements what she does with two a cappella groups at K, Premium Orange and A Cappella People of Color (ACAPOC), as well as with Frelon, the campus\u2019 student dance company. It also helps her deal with her own perfectionism.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSometimes when I sit down to write, regardless of the assignment, I get hung up on making it perfect,\u201d she said. \u201cForcing myself to write every day is beneficial in letting a little of that perfectionism go. It helps me write more freely and produce something that I can always go back and edit later.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Baez Bendorf also offers an intermediate poetry workshop. That class this month is memorizing poems such as <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.poetryoutloud.org\/poems-and-performance\/poems\/detail\/48609\">Truth Serum<\/a><\/em> and <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.poetryoutloud.org\/poems-and-performance\/poems\/detail\/58630\">300 Goats<\/a><\/em> by Naomi Shihab Nye and <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.poetryoutloud.org\/poems-and-performance\/poems\/detail\/47565\">To Myself<\/a><\/em> by Franz Wright with the goal of reciting them in May.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe approach it as a kind of ultimate close reading of the work, and then aim to know it by heart, hopefully for a lifetime,\u201d Baez Bendorf said.<\/p>\n<p>National Poetry Month was inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996. It since has become the largest literary celebration in the world with schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers and poets celebrating poetry, according to the American Academy of Poetry.<\/p>\n<p>The organization drew inspiration for National Poetry Month from Black History Month in February and Women\u2019s History Month in March, and it aims to highlight the legacies and ongoing achievements of American poets, encourage the public to read poems, and increase the number of poetry-themed stories in local and national media. Read more about National Poetry Month at the Academy of American Poets\u2019 website.<\/p>\n","comment_info":"No Comments","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/147"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12151"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19921,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12151\/revisions\/19921"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12151"},{"taxonomy":"post_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_formats?post=12151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}