World Class Poetry Blog

Split This Rock Poetry Festival - Good Cause Or Propaganda?
22 January 2008, the poet @ 11:39 pm

(Source) “Split this Rock calls poets to a greater role in public life and fosters a national community of activist poets. The festival will feature readings, workshops, panel discussions on poetry and social change, youth programming, films, parties, walking tours, and activism, while we debate and assess the public role of the poet and the poem in this time of crisis.”

I have mixed feelings about these kinds of mixture of poetry and politics. I’m not sure what the debate is about. My role as a poet is to write poetry. If I address a public issue or take a political stand then it’s no different than if I write about loving my wife or eating a bowl of chili. The impact my be stronger or weaker depending on how I express myself, but a poem is a poem.

The Split This Rock Poetry Festival does look like a grand event, though. What I can’t figure out is why it costs $75, $85 after March 10. What is the money going toward? Judging by the list of featured poets, it looks like the event will draw a crowd. I mean, there are some big names in there: Jimmy Santiago Baca, Robert Bly, Lucille Clifton, Mark Doty, Carolyn Forche, Sam Hamill, Galway Kinnell, Naomi Shihab Nye, Sharon Olds, Alicia Ostriker, and Sonia Sanchez. And those are just names that I recognize.

It’s not that I don’t think peace and justice are worthy causes, but whose definition of justice is being promoted here? Looking at the names again, I’d say it isn’t President Bush’s. And that’s the problem. I see this event as being a propaganda movement against the neo-conservative dominance of the past eight years. That puts poets like me in a rather precarious position.

On the one hand, I’m supportive of any movement that is against the Iraq War. Unfortunately, too many poets who involve themselves in these types of “witness and resistance” movements are anti-war in all its nuances. Extreme liberals, of which there are many in poetry circles, like extreme conservatives, only see one view: Theirs. One can hardly reason with minds that see the world through a single lens. That’s what makes cavorting with them a difficult decision.

I’d like to be able to attend a political rally that stands against unjust war yet affirms the necessity of just war. Unfortunately, if such a rally existed, it likely would not be hosted by poets. Is there a way to make sense of this?

1 Comment a “Split This Rock Poetry Festival - Good Cause Or Propaganda?”

1. Sarah Browning — January 24, 2008 @ 7:25 am
   

   Thanks for your thoughtful comments on Split This Rock. Just to let you and your readers know, the registration fee pays only a fraction of the cost of bringing the featured poets to town and putting them up and feeding them while they’re here. We’ve been busting our humps for over a year to raise the rest of the funds necessary to put together an event of this scope. We’re also offering lots of scholarships, so if folks can’t afford the $75, I hope they’ll apply. Guidelines are on the site at http://www.splitthisrock.org, under Registration.

   As to ideology, we are a big tent. All the featured poets have agreed to come (and waive their fee) because they oppose this unjust war and believe we need to end it now and reinvest in our own communities here at home. I’m certain that there are a number of positions among all of us - featured poets and organizers alike - about the issue you raise: if war is ever justified and under what conditions. We have not taken a poll. We chose poets to feature because their poems engage the world in dynamic and important ways. They move us, they make us think. As all poetry should.

   Thanks again and hope to see you in March!

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