Former Nobel Laureate Robert Pinsky presented his recently completed ‘Favorite Poem Project’ a series of videos about poetry in America to a group of honor and graduate students last night.
The films, compiled by several independent filmmakers, focused on poetry and American culture. The project asked Americans from all over the United States to send in their favorite poems.
Pinsky discussed the featured works, the influence of culture on poetry and the theory of poetry.
‘The medium of poetry is not words,’ Pinsky said. ‘The medium of poetry is the human body.’
The films, which took 18 months to produce, still need a sponsor to distribute them.
‘I hope to put this into high school and junior high school classrooms throughout the country,’ Pinsky said.
Five of the more than 20 films were screened last night. The people featured in the films ranged in ethnicity, location and age, including a U.S. Marine of Cuban descent, a professional photographer from Jamaica, a student from Cambodia and a glassblower from the United States.
Pinsky received more than 20,000 responses, which were organized by graduate students at Boston University. A select few were then recorded reading the poem they chose and talking about what it means to them.
Last night’s films included poetry from many different eras and ethnic backgrounds, including Langston Hughes’ ‘Minstrel Man,’ Sylvia Plath’s ‘Nick and the Candlestick,’ William Butler Yeats’ ‘Politics,’ Wilfred Owen’s ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ and Frank O’Hara’s ‘Poem.’
Pinsky, whose career boasts six published books, also talked extensively about his experiences making the film.
‘I wanted to do this because of my interest in my country and poetry,’ Pinsky said.
The poetry of America was also a large part of Pinsky’s presentation.
‘When people ask me why I think America doesn’t like poetry, I show them this,’ Pinsky said as he held up a book entitled ‘America’s Favorite Poems.’
A variety of students came to see the presentation. Many came because they heard Pinsky would present the videos.
‘It was a great chance to see a famous poet,’ said Mike Demic, a College of Arts and Sciences freshman. ‘I hadn’t heard of this project before but now I’ll look it up.’
Other students said they attended the event for educational purposes.
‘I really enjoy poetry but didn’t have a lot of knowledge about contemporary poetry,’ said Elizabeth Roberts, a CAS junior. ‘It fed my continuing interest in poetry.’
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