(Earlville, NY – April 2014) It’s National Poetry Month. In collaboration with Colgate University, Writing for Peace, and Poets & Writers, the Earlville Opera House welcomes poet Sam Hamill on Tuesday, April 29 at 6:30 p.m. This is a unique opportunity to spend time with one of the major poets and cultural forces of our time. Sam Hamill is the author of more than 40 books, including fifteen volumes of original poetry, most recently Measured by Stone.
On Hamill’s poetry, Robert Tilendis said, “The English language being what it is, one is tempted to call in one’s complete arsenal of glowing adjectives to try to do justice to Hamill’s vision, while realizing that to do so would belie that vision. Perhaps best just to say that here is craft so completely assimilated that it no longer exists.”
Sam Hamill co-founded, and for 32 years was editor, at Copper Canyon Press, with a mission to advance poets and poetry as vital to language and living. Copper Canyon Press has a tradition of publishing extraordinary poetry from around the world to engage the imaginations and intellects of readers.
“If Hamill were an editor and publisher alone, he would be a significant presence. But he is also a renowned translator, having translated such classics as The Art of Writing: Lu chi’s Wen Fu, The Essential Chuang Tzu , The Essential Basho, as well as rich anthologies, Only Companion: Japanese Poems of Love & Longing , The Erotic Spirit, The Infinite Moment: Poems from Ancient Greek , and most recently Crossing the Yellow River: Three Hundred Poems from the Chinese.” Rebecca Seiferle
He also began the Poets Against War movement. The resulting site PoetsAgainstWar.net continues the tradition of socially engaged poetry and literature that stand as a voice against war, tyranny and oppression. Hamill has taught in prisons for fourteen years and has worked extensively with battered women and children. Hamill has been awarded the Stanley Lindberg Lifetime Achievement Award for Editing and the Washington Poets Association Lifetime Achievement Award.
The evening starts with a reading, Writing for Peace at 6:30 p.m. and then at 7:45 p.m. continues with An Intimate Discussion on the Practice of Poetry. Seating is limited. Admission is free but donations are welcome. The Earlville Opera House is wheelchair-accessible with a ramp and a lift. For more information, or to reserve your seats, call 315-691-3550 or order online at www.earlvilleoperahouse.com. The Opera House is located at 18 East Main St. in Earlville.