Elizabeth Alexander's Inauguration Poem

Seconds after the inauguration reading there were responses to it online. The poetry community is talking; it's poetry's happy hour in the United States. While I can offer not critique or feedback on the peformance yet, I can already see a things I line in the transcript I have in front of me. First, the poem is entitled "Praise Song for the Day".... Surely, America has reason to sing and to praise for this historic moment. I like the connection with the role of poetry as it's traditionally known in my African (and Obama's)heritage-- praise of leaders and ancestry: "Sing the names of the dead who brought us here/who laid the train tracks/raised the bridges, picked the cotton & the lettuce."

Elizabeth Alexander is the fourth poet in the history of the United States to read at an inauguration of a president. This event helps not only her career as a poet but also the appreciation of poetry as an artform.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Sorry Manu, this poem makes everyone suspicious of poetry, because it was a poor poem delivered badly. Maya Angelou, now that was something. Chakanaka chakanaka mukaka haurungwi. That poem was an embaarssment to the world of poetry.

E
January 26, 2009 at 1:54 PM
Emmanuel Sigauke said…
Now that's a harsh critique, but I see your point. The delivery especially, as one could tell through the audience's body language, etc, was not effective, but the poem on paper has qualities that add up to a simple, but distinct poem.
January 26, 2009 at 5:17 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Importance of African Languages in African Literature

Once in a while, I check  the search engines terms that are driving the most traffic to my blog, Wealth of Ideas, and the searches are often revealing of what kinds of information people are looking for  at any time. Today, of the several interesting ones,  "the importance of African languages in African literature" stood out. It's a topic I too am passionate about. I have written about it before in a post entitled " Language in African Literature ", but even this doesn't begin to cover the most important facts about the issue. Perhaps one day I will write treatise on the topic of language in African literature, and mini posts like this are my way of mapping a project description. But now let's go to some serious stuff on African languages in African Literature. Let me start by saying that I am annoyed by glossaries. Their intent seems to be to appeal to a foreign audience, or, most importantly, to any speakers for whom the glossaried language is for...
Read more

US Release Date for Nai'ma Robert's 'Far From Home'

Image
Pub Date: June 2012 ISBN: 978-1-84780-006-0 $8.99 US/9.99 CAN 352 Pages Trade Paper 5” x 7 ¾” Awarded the International Youth Library’s prestigious White Raven label Award for innovative literary style and artful portrayal of universal themes. This compelling and dramatic novel brings the turbulent history of Zimbabwe to vivid life, encouraging readers to reflect on the true costs of war. 14-year-olds Tariro and Katie are decades, worlds, and generations apart, but their seemingly distant lives are linked by a terrible secret, gradually revealed as they grapple with the complexities of adolescence, family, and a painful colonial legacy. Tariro loves her ancestral home, the baobab tree she was born beneath, her loving family — and brave, handsome Nhamo. She couldn't be happier. But then the white settlers arrive, and everything changes — suddenly, violently, and tragically. Nearly forty years later, Katie loves her doting father, ...
Read more

Ronasi Fiction Prize for Mototi Ward Primary Schools (Zimbabwe)

The Ronald Sigauke Memorial Fiction Prize, in collaboration with Chisiya Writers’ Workshop in Mazvihwa, Zimbabwe, announces the first edition of the RONASI Fiction Prize for Grade 7 students at Mototi Ward Primary Schools (Gudo, Mototi, and Gwen'ombe Dip). This prize is offered by the Sigauke family in memory of Ronald Sigauke, who died at the age of 7 in Harare. He was in primary school and had already expressed his dream to get an advanced education.    Although his school in Glen View was about 20 minutes' walk from home, he had asked his uncle in America to send him a bicycle so he could cycle to school, to arrive quicker. He was young but already was showing signs of an emerging scholar. This competition honors his ambition by making education and bicycles the two themes contestants can base their stories. Themes:    Contestants will choose one only. 1.        Education and success : Your story should feature characters d...
Read more