Sonya Sanchez: "Our Vision Is Our Voice"

I first heard Sonya Sanchez when she came to Birmingham several years ago when the Public Library was having an event celebrating Alabama authors. She read some of her poems and I was engulfed in one of those rare moments when the spoken word transports an entire audience.

Sonya Sanchez, author, poet, and playwright, was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and went on to teach in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1965. She was a pioneer in the development of Black Studies at San Francisco State University. 

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Monday Music: Daffodils (e.e. cummings)

My thanks to Penny Nash st Penelopepiscopal for sharing this beautiful musical setting. It is e.e. cummings' poem "Daffodils" set to music by Jeremy Kings (b. 1987). It is performed by Vox 16 at Trinity Parish Church, Seattle, Washington.

It is quite fitting as we celebrate National Poetry Month to hear the words of a poet set to music.

 

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The Last Word: Lawrence Ferlingetti

For more than 50 years, the poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti kept the bohemian and beat spirit alive at his City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco. I visited that bookstore when I was a student in Mill Valley, California. Mr. Ferlinghetti died just last month (Feb. 22) at the age of 101. In 2007, he spoke to The New York Times about his life and legacy.

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