For four days, The Dodge Poetry Festival came to Newark, where we were embraced by the city and the magic that happens when so many people come together to celebrate the written and spoken word . From October 11th to 14th Newark was full of poetry lovers– teachers, students, young, old . We heard from people who were attending the Festival for the first time, and spoke with people who have been to all 14 Festivals since 1986. We heard stories from people who flew miles, and we heard stories from NJPAC ushers who showed up for work and were so moved by what they heard that they plan to be in the audience as patrons at the next Festival.
To look up and see Prudential Hall filled up to the ceiling – that’s four tiers! – with high school students in rapt silence – that’s magic. To hear Patricia Smith read selections from her book “Blood Dazzler” and speak from the haunting voices of Hurricane Katrina to the gorgeous New Orleans sounds of “At the Octoroon Balls” being played by a New Jersey Symphony Orchestra – that’s magic. To see the Newark Boys Chorus streaming down the aisles of Prudential Hall singing beautifully while Jane Hirshfield and Kurtis Lamkin performed – that’s magic. Being with audience members who were moved to tears by the sound of Raul Zurita’s incantatory, passionate poetry, despite language barriers – that’s magic. And it was magic when we saw people simply grab his hands and say “gracias” because this is all that they could say/.they wanted to convey their gratitude for all that he had given them. (? Not that there is anything wrong with what you are saying but it seemed vague like do our festival goers only speak super basic Spanish? Or were they just stunned speechless? I don’t know)
So now, we would like to say gracias. This “magic” doesn’t happen on its own – it takes a lot of work, and a lot of people, without whom the Festival would not be possible.
We want to give special thanks to Mayor Booker and the City of Newark, and to New Jersey Performing Arts Center, who brought this Festival to the city we love so dearly.
We want to thank our presenting sponsors: the Prudential Foundation, Berkeley College, Fidelity Investments, PSE&G, Bank of America, Chase Bank, New Jersey Monthly, NJ Transit, the Robert Treat Hotel, the Sagner Family Foundation, the Victoria Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, and the Poetry Foundation, as well as to all of our Friends of the Festival.
Special thanks are due to the entire staff of the Greater Newark Convention and Visitors Bureau, especially Michael Davidson, Roosevelt Donat, Nelson Gonzalez and Lauren Hall (alphabetized?). They worked tirelessly on behalf of the Festival and on behalf of the arts community in Newark and for their efforts in marketing and promoting our work, we are truly thankful.
We want to thank the hundreds of people who worked so hard to make the Festival happen – the staff of NJPAC for their expertise , guidance and friendship, the amazing team of NJPAC volunteers, the NJPAC ushers and house management staff, the staff of the Dodge Foundation, the City of Newark’s Police Department, The City of Newark’s Office of Sustainability , The Clean Water Fund and it’s Green Team volunteers for supporting our greening effort, MiMi Madlinger and NJ TRANSIT for making round-trip rides available to Festival-goers, Marty Gilbert and his staff for their dedication to our book store, and all of the School Coordinators who made this experience possible for their students. We also want to thank The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Newark Downtown District, Newark YouthBuild and the International Youth Corps, the Newark Star Ledger and The Newark Public Schools.
We want to thank the venues and the individuals who welcomed us into their amazing spaces: The Newark Museum, Aljira: A Center for Contemporary Art, Trinity St. Philip’s Cathedral, New Jersey Historical Society, First Peddie Baptist Memorial Church, Bethany Baptist Church and North Star Academy.
Dodge’s commitment to poetry is year-round. Even while we are planning for each Festival, we are also offering our Poetry-in-the-Schools program, which includes the Clearing the Spring, Tending the Fountain program for teachers, mini festivals, and poet visits to high schools. You can keep up-to-date with Dodge’s Poetry Program a number of ways throughout the year: subscribe to our YouTube channel to see past Festival performances and be the first to see videos of performances from the 2012 Festival. You can ook to our Facebook fan page for a Festival round-up and the latest updates, and follow us on Twitter for all the latest links to videos, programs, photos and current Poetry Program news.
Maybe thank the general public here for supporting the arts?
While it’s still fresh in your mind, we want your feedback on the Festival. Take our public survey, here. Also, if you wrote a blog post about the Festival, we would love to read it. Please share your links via Facebook, Twitter, email or as a comment on the blog.
Although we’re still reeling from the excitement of the 2012 Festival, it’s never too early to start planning for the 2014 Festival, and your partnership is vital to making it happen. Please consider becoming a Friend of the Festival. (need link to FOF page)
From the Dodge Poetry Staff and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, we thank you for making the 2012 Dodge Poetry Festival so memorable and successful.