First public reading of THE LENIN POEMS
Friday 17 April at 6:30pm at the Phinney Neighborhood Association
THE LENIN POEM judges are happy to announce that we received over 50 beautiful Lenin poems – poems both small and light, large and serious, in English and Russian, and in rhyming and free verse. We want to thank the poets of Fremont, and of the world, for taking on this challenge. Someone from Austria submitted work! And we think all of their hard work is worth celebrating and want to begin by sharing some of the submissions at The Phinney Center on Friday 17 April 2009. We welcome you to join us. The reading will be 30 minutes long.
THE LENIN POEMS will strut their stuff on Friday 17 April at 6:30pm at “Art On The Ridge,” an event organized by Nicole Stremlow-Monahan at the Phinney Neighborhood Association. A Lenin Poem contest winner has not been chosen. This reading offers a sneak peek into the submissions that sit now on the desks of comrades & judges Vanessa DeWolf, Gregory Crosby and A. K. Allin.
THE LENIN POEMS was conceived of by poet/artist A. K. “Mimi” Allin(aka "The Poetess at Green Lake"). There is a statue of Vladimir Lenin outside of the Space Building in downtown Fremont where the artist has a studio. As do many Fremont residents, the artist passes the statue everyday. She knows its history, where it was cut to be disassembled for transport, the name of its artist, buyer and seller, and its current cost. She even knows the dates it was made, discarded, re-found and shipped to the U.S. She knows that those bronze chunks behind the figure are meant to be the flames of revolution and that the statue stands 16 feet tall while Vladimir himself stood 5.5 feet tall. But what the artist DOES NOT KNOW is how the people of Fremont feel about this statue and how Lenin feels about the people of Fremont and what that all might mean to the people who live here and visit. I asked the poets to begin to explain. And they have.
April 1st 2009 was our contest deadline. Submissions are now being compiled and sent to the judges. Judges will take two months to consider a winner. Once a winner is chosen, that one poem will be cast in bronze and placed with the statue. The judges will then choose the best of the rest to be included in a print publication called "The Lenin Poems," to be “publicly poured” over the statue on 4 July 2009. This "pouring" will read as both performance and publication date. The hope is that these poems will be seen, taken, read and remembered.
THE LENIN POEMS
17 April 2009
6:30-7:00pm
Phinney Neighborhood Association
6532 Phinney Ave N Room #1
Art On The Ridge
(206)510-3421
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