Today’s poetry news round up takes a look at a mural in Amherst, the 82nd anniversary of the death of the national poet of Turkey, and the Poetry in Motion competition.
New Downtown Building in Amherst to get Mural
A Cambridge artist is planning his next work, which he hopes to be able to undertake in the spring. It won’t be something new, but rather a recreation of a work he has previously completed. The artist is David Fichter, and in 2005 he completed the original Amherst History Mural, which depicted a number of local people who played important roles in the history of Amherst.
The original mural was completed on the back-side wall of the Amherst Carriage shops, an older building that during the early 1960’s opened as a hotel. It was demolished in autumn 2016, and along with it so was the mural which portrayed Civil War-era soldier, Emily Dickinson and a number of other people. The new mural is planed for the wall of the One East Pleasant mixed-use building.
The new building should prove to be a better canvas for the artist. It has fewer windows and air conditioning units to break up the mural. The mural has been redesigned and was presented to the Historical Commission in November to give them a chance to see the revised design. The revised mural not only fills in the holes but is also several feet longer, and a couple of different alternatives have been offered. The vote for the preferred design will be made in January.
National Poet Commemorated by Turkish Parliament Speaker
Yesterday, Binali Yildirim offered up a commemorative speech in the name of the poet Mehmet Akif Ersoy, who was the poet behind the Turkish national anthem. The speech marked the 82nd anniversary of the death of the poet.
Born in 1873, Ersoy was a poet of Turkish-Albanian descent. He was born in the Fatih district of Istanbul during the Ottoman era. Ersoy wrote Istiklal Marsi (Independence March) in 1921 during the wake of World War I. During this time, Turkey were fighting a War of Independence against occupation by foreign companies.
The poem was written to provide encouragement for the army and also to motivate the people. Two years later, when the new republic was founded, the poem became the national anthem.
Ersoy, who passed away in 1936, is also very well known for his collection of poetry “Safahat”.
Poetry on the Move
Shorter forms of poetry have always been popular, from the Japanese Haiku to such poems as Baby Shoes by Ernest Hemingway, proving sometimes less really can be more. When you only have a few minutes to absorb something, a few carefully chosen words can be all that you have time for.
Since 2012, The Metro Arts Commission in Nashville has taken part in Poetry in Motion – the Poetry Society of America’s nationwide program. The program is run in partnership with the Nashville Metro Transit Authority. Submissions for poems that contain just 20 words or less are now being taken, and the winning entries will be chosen to adorn the sides of the city’s buses. The 10 winners will also receive $100 each.
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