In today’s poetry news roundup here at My Poetic Side, we bring you a mixed bunch. We have two articles about poetry and Mother’s Day, which was celebrated in America this weekend just gone. We also have the story of the poet’s daughter invited to take part in a summit and then turned away on arrival.
Former Poet Laureate Addresses Graduates
This weekend saw many countries in celebrating Mother’s Day; America and Australia to name just a few. On Sunday, Billy Collins, the former Laureate gave a speech at Boston’s Emerson College to mark the occasion.
In his address to the graduates at the college, Collins gave advice on the subjects of solitude and happiness as well as one of his poems. “The Lanyard”, which offers a unique look at the often fragile and unbalanced love that exists between a mother and her children.
From Reporter to Poet
Strickland Gillilan was a reporter working in the Palladium offices in Richmond. His rise to fame was slow, but with a slant for the humorous Gillilan revised a poem about the derailment of a train; just one of the many stories he covered as part of his job. The poem in question was about a fictional man named Finnigin and his communication with his superior named Flanigan. It was a short ditty name “Finnigin to Flannigan” yet it was to launch him to fame. The poem was first published in the Palladium in 1897 and with some slight revisions in March of the same year it was published in Life Magazine.
Gillilan was also the author of what is probably the most anthologised Mother’s Day poem of all times, “The Reading Mother” a poem which is very popular on the third Sunday in May every year when American celebrate Mother’s Day.
He also wrote what is confirmed to be the world’s shortest poem:
Permission Denied to Poets Daughter
The child of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, the famous Pakistani poet has been told she does not have permission to attend an Indian summit, despite having received an official invitation offering her the opportunity to attend, her son has posted on Twitter.
The daughter of the late poet, Moneeza Hashmi, was banned from attending and participating in the Asia Media event, which is in its 15th year, that recently took place in Delhi. She was also informed by the hotel that she should have been staying in that they had no record of her booking.
Hashmi had been scheduled to speak at the 4pm session on 10thMay, together with a number of other speakers but she was told by the director of the
that she would in fact not be allowed to speak.
No reason has been forthcoming as to why having been invited to take part in the summit Moneeza Hashmi was turned away from speaking and there was no hotel booking available for her.
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