First Day at the Poetry Conference

Yesterday, I got up a little later than usual, but still managed to have breakfast before Petra came back from her walk with Alegra. I was surprised that the rain had let up a bit, but in spite of that, Petra told me that there has been flooding all over Germany recently due to the amount of rain we've had. She dropped me off at her shop, and I walked to the train without an umbrella for the first time in about a week. At my stop at Pasing to pick up the bus, I realized that I had forgotten my camera in my rush to get ready.

I arrived at the library early to help with whatever last minute preparations needed to be made, but everything seemed to be taken care of for the poetry conference. So, I stowed my things in a locker and got set up to work before the politicians arrived. None of them asked me any questions, although they did speak with some of the other professors who have been there working. I was able to add a few more pages to my paper before lunch, as well as finish reading one of the novels I'd been working on for the unit.

Lunch was outside in the courtyard in a large tent and it seemed to be quite the event. There were servers carrying drinks to people and cheese and bread as appetizers. The food was fantastic; an bountiful buffet of roasted vegetables, salads, caprise salad (one of my favorites with mozzarella and sliced tomatoes), and so many varieties of potatoes. There was salmon, beef, and pasta as a main course. And dessert... mmmm... chocolate mousse with bits of dark chocolate mixed in, as well as a vanilla mousse that was heavenly. After lunch, coffee, cappuccino, and alfredo (espresso with lots of steamed milk) was served, and the conference began at 3:00.

The first portion of the conference was a bit boring, as there were lots of German folks in the literary and publishing world who seem to be rather "high society" who had a few moments to speak. Fortunately, there were some language students from the university who were there to translate, using a sound system that went to headphones for those people who needed to hear the speeches in English. After the introductions were made, there was a children's poet from Germany who spoke and shared a few of her poems in German, and we were provided with a rough translation in English. After she spoke, there was a series of poems presented from poets around the world, many of these being presented by the library staff. Each presentation included some biographical information about the poet and then a poem or two by that particular poet. I suppose I should mention that the topic for the conference is children's poetry and illustrations. It seems that some of the discussion has been surrounding the use of word play, alliteration, imagery, etc. and the choice of images used to illustrate these poems, whether they inhibit or encourage the imagination of a child when hearing or reading the poems.

At this point, we took a short coffee break and had coffee and cookies (of the Danish variety, the ones in the blue tin, although these were served on very fancy silver platters). I had an alfredo at this point and enjoyed some conversation with one of the professors who is studying here who is from a university in Texas.

After the coffee break, we had the opportunity to hear the most exciting speaker so far, a poet from England named Andrew Peters. He has written numerous poems, some on his own and some in collaboration with his wife, Polly Peters. He is more of a performance poet, so many of his poems were read with great expression, hand motions, etc. and were very engaging and honest. He has recently begun writing for young adults and these were some of my most favorite pieces. He and his wife have been very honest about their own experiences as teens in these poems, so they are the type of literature that is very popular with teen audiences. Unfortunately, only some of his childrens books have made it to the US publishers. It seems that most publishers aren't interested in publishing poetry, since it seems to be the thing that doesn't sell as much. He has also written some novels with his wife, and a poetic novel (I think that's the correct term) that tells a story through a series of poems. I would love to see some of his work published in the US and see him perform some of his poems for US students (although some parents might object to his frankness with regards to teen experience). Here's his website if you'd like to check him out: http://www.tallpoet.com/. At the end of his presentation, he gave the chance for people to ask questions and to purchase some of the books he'd brought with him, and he signed them. I purchased one of the novels he's written, although I would have preferred to have a copy of his book Poems with Attitude. He only was able to bring what would fit in his carry on luggage, so he only had a small selection from which to choose.

After Andrew's presentation, we had dinner, which was again lovely. Quiche, potatoes, steamed kohlrabi, salads, more caprise salad, and fish of some kind, all of which was very good. I was coming away from the buffet table and saw Andrew and asked him about videos of his performances that I could share with my students. He said that he didn't have any on his website, as people tend to just pull stuff from the web without giving credit where it's due. He then surprised me by offerring to come sit with our group, since he was sitting by himself previously. So, we had the chance to chat with him, share our experiences in American schools, hear from him some of his experiences and desires with regards to being published in the US, etc. After dinner, he had to leave to catch a flight back to England, and I left to come back to the house, as it was getting toward 8:00.

When I arrived at the house, Alegra greeted me as usual, and Laura and I had a nice chat about her school, my students, and some other general getting to know you discussion. When Petra came home, I found the pictures of Lavender that she had been asking about (she has had dachshunds in the past) and some pictures of the house. We stayed up and chatted about all manner of things, including some of her trips to the states when she was younger to visit a cousin in Colorado. We chatted about hikes in the mountains and she shared some places that I might want to go hiking here when it gets a little prettier. She made some hot tea with honey and shared it with me, and it was a wonderful way to wind down from a long day.

I will post pictures of the library staff in their traditional dress, the buffet tables, etc. when I can get copies of pictures from someone else in the group. I am taking my camera today, though!