The bus has come and gone….
The Poets are coming. The Poets are coming. Tomorrow night The Wave Books Poetry Bus Tour rolls into Providence, stopping at the First Unitarian Church on Benevolent Street.
The series of performances, billed as “the most ambitious poetry tour ever attempted,” are a move away from poetry’s stuffy reputation. Tour sponsor Wave Books, a Seattle based independent poetry press, hopes to “bring poetry to new audiences and expand the popular idea of what poetry means and where poetry belongs.”
Traveling in a style often reserved for minor league baseball teams the poets will burn up 1,562 gallons of biodiesel while covering over 12,000 miles on the bus.
This literary road trip began in Seattle Washington on Labor day when the Poetry Bus, a 40 foot MCI touring coach, embarked on a voyage that will hit 50 cities in 50 days. It’s all part of a “new energy in contemporary poetry.”
Over 100 poets will participate in the readings in places as varied as Iowa City, Montreal and Las Vegas. Tour organizers claim that, “the poetry bus will go more places with more poets reading more poems than was ever previously believed possible.”
Wave books Director of Marketing and University of Massachusetts alumni, Monica Fambrough said that the tour has gone well so far. “To see adventurous, experimental poets getting this level of attention is, I think, a very good thing for poetry, and a sign that audiences are ready for something different from what they usually see.”
An accomplished poet herself, Ms. Fambrough cites the unique nature of a public reading as, “an opportunity to have people come to your work in a way that is personal and, I think, less intimidating than reading it on the page.”
“The reading in Missoula was one of the most engaging readings I’ve ever been to,” Ms. Fambrough said. “The turnout has been huge for all the events, regardless of the size of the town. The level of enthusiasm makes the crowds seem even more special.”
Checking in from the road, tour co-founder and Wave Books editor, Matthew Zapruder comes across much like the way Publisher’s Weekly describes his recent book of poems entitled The Pajamaist, “Charming, melancholy, hip and at times hopeful.”
Okay. That last line just sounded good. When I interviewed Matthew (Don’t call me Matt or I’ll act like a db) Zapruder, he was none of those things. Even though I’d gone out of my way to get this article into the paper and promote The Bus Tour, he adopted the stance that he was doing me a big favor and hung up on me.
Wave Books has intentionally kept the tour away from academic institutions as a way of reaching people different from the usual poetry crowd. Zapruder said the tour is about, “talking to as many people as possible.”
The different locations offer something new for Zapruder. He’s been on the road before. In fact, most of the poets on the bus, “have done a lot of touring,” he said. “It was always a dream to go out together.”
“The travel can be brutal, especially in the western states.” But it’s not all bad. The bus provides a place for the poets to work. Being in a confined space also creates an opportunity for them to collaborate and even learn a little about each other. Never the less, Zapruder is happy that as they come east the distances between stops becomes shorter.
This band of poets may be crossing the nation under the same banner but each is different. Some read, “almost as if they are reciting a bedtime story,” Zapruder said. Others are much more “outgoing and performative.”
Regardless of style Zapruder believes that they are all united. “Poets love words. They are unwilling to stay satisfied with the way things are said. Like a painter uses paint or a sculptor uses clay, poets use words as material.”
Poets come and go from the tour. Zapruder will ride along for the entire cross country adventure. Others like Providence based poet Sam White will join in for one shot appearances. White, the author of The Goddess of the Hunt is not Herself, will participate tomorrow night. He is happy to be a part of this Wave Books event. “They are an important publishing house for innovative young poets.”
“Poems are meant to be heard” White said. “In a way it evokes something of our past, like telling stories around the camp fire.”
However, the words are still the focus. “Of course performance plays a part in any reading. You are trying to sell it to the audience but as long as the bones of the poem are there people will be drawn in.”
The Providence tour stop will also include readings by Pushcart Prize winner and tour co-founder Josh Beckman. Sam White (who was excited to find Beckman on the roster) called him, “a populist poet, a Walt Whitman figure” who tries to increase poetry’s profile.
When asked about his own work White was reluctant to say too much but offered some insight into the makings of a poem. “I look for a solid emotional core in my poems.” He added that his work can be challenging and that his mother “doesn’t understand it.”
White thinks that the poetry world of southeastern Massachusetts and the Providence area is “dominated by Brown University.” According to White, the school “produces a lot of good poets” and having a university or college relatively close can foster an appreciation for poetry.
Although a unique event, the Bus Tour isn’t the only option for local poetry fans. As part of its visiting artist program Wheaton College hosts poets who read their work. Area libraries often offer space and time for readings and cafes such as Jaec’s in downtown Attleboro hold open mic nights that welcome anyone willing to share what they’ve written.
White said that writing poems can sometimes feel like “singing off the edge of a cliff.” He’s not sure people in the “fractured mainstream” are listening to or reading poetry but hopes that events like the bus tour will increase the art form’s visibility. However, White quickly added, “I’ve been writing for over 15 years. I’d continue regardless of who was listening.”
Sam White doesn’t have a choice. He’s a writer. As Matthew Zapruder said, “most of them didn’t set out to be poets.” Still, they’re out there on the road and on their way to Providence, all the while “exploring the world through language.”
This feature originally appeared in The Sun Chronicle