Sitting in the Medaille library

admin — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:47:16 +0000

Sitting in the Medaille library were usually stressed out students rushing to get their homework done. Suddenly, Ravi Shankar’s poems cast a tranquility about the room with his soothing and meditative tone. His voice doesn’t blend in with the drone of computer monitors or the vibrating cell phones, but stands out for its peacefulness. His poems burst with color and musical juices; as one listened to a particular poem one could see colors change as the layers of his poem revealed themselves, leaving the listener intrigued and truly wanting to hear more. At the core of all his poems from Instrumentality, from which he read, lay originality and individuality. Each poem from his first collection perceives the ordinary in a new and more adventurous light. Lacking abstractions, Shankar’s poems illustrate to readers concrete images and perceptions. His poetry is something that every reader can relate to, for it is of the ordinary – one that whisks you away. To be enmeshed in his work is to have a feeling of serenity, which seems to be Shankar’s major poetic goal. - Courtney Kerwin

Poet Betsy Wheeler

admin — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:46:12 +0000

Poet Betsy Wheeler recently shared some of her work to Medaille students and faculty. Notably, Wheeler read several poems inspired by historical markers, stating whenever she would walk by an interesting one she would combine text from the marker with added text to create a poem. One clever “historical marker” poem, “How Very Lewis and Clark of Me,” caused the listener to try to determine the words that may have been used from the historical mark. The poem was also rich with real and imagined imagery of Lewis and Clark’s historical adventures (“But for I am a slinky little voyager. / But for I am built like a keelboat: / with critical eyes, a transcontinental gaze”). Wheeler also discussed being an editor for Pilot Books, which publishes limited edition, handmade poetry chapbooks. Some of the wonderful chapbooks she shared were The Book of Flashlights, Clover, & Milk by Joshua Marie Wilkinson, Cruel, Yes, But Company by Friedrich Kerksieck and Aaron James, and Go Home and Go to Bed! by Mary Ruefle. These chapbooks challenge us: Wilkinson’s was made to be read backwards, and Kerksieck and James’s was made strictly from old post cards from around the world. Both Wheeler’s work as poet and bookmaker showed Medaille there is a lot out there in the poetry world. Her work is impressive, and I would love to welcome her to Medaille College again. - Lauren Tatko

Medaille Prelude

Sitting in the Medaille library

Poet Betsy Wheeler