September 14, 2006
Books Grow on my Tree
The Publishing Group, led by Wendy Surinsky and Nannette Vinson, received a Kick-Ass award last year. You may remember, if you attended the ceremony, Wendy and the group of kids who came to the event to accept their award. For those who were not there: the Publishing Group is a creative writing and photography after-school program in Hyde Park, created to give kids the opportunity to work with artists like K. Curtis Lyle, David Jackson and Mariah Richardson. Two years ago, they partnered with KDHX to produce an actual CD that features the kids' work -- "Books Grown on My Tree." Curtis (whose visionary work has graced the pages of 52nd City) and Mariah contributed poems, and David created the score. This Saturday, there will be a release party at Legacy Books and Cafe (5249 Delmar) at 6pm.
I filled in for Jane Ibur and Ann Haubrich tonight for "Literature for the Halibut," and in the studio were Wendy, Curtis, and David (by phone) along with six of the kids who participated, and their poems knocked me over. These kids are pretty straight-up and there was not a cliche to be found in their poems (which is more than I can say for most adult poets!) They were shy and putting on their cool act just a bit, and I did a fairly crappy job of keeping the chaos to a minimum, but by the end of the hour they were feeling comfortable enough to really talk and not just giggle and give a shout out to mom. And if you heard the show -- and their poems -- you know that there are some amazing stuff going on in their heads and hearts. If you can't make it out on Saturday, look for this amazing little project on the shelf at Left Bank Books.