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Displaying the Future, Celebrating our Laureate

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Last Monday at 10:00 AM, Poetry and Literature Center staffer Matt Blakley and I went down to the second floor of the Jefferson Building with a cart of materials—wedges and stands, signs and cards, and a few precious objects. There we met with Leslie Girard, the LC staffer in charge of the Library’s new Agile Display Cases. These cases aren’t in fact agile—they weigh 700 pounds apiece!—but provide a way to showcase collections on a short term, smaller scale, and more specific topics than would usually be the case for traditional Library exhibitions.

LC staffers Matt Blakley and Leslie Girard in front of the Agile Display Case.
LC staffers Matt Blakley and Leslie Girard in front of the Agile Display Case.

Our specific topic was the Poet Laureate Final Lecture, to take place next Wednesday. Natasha Trethewey will finish the second term of her extraordinarily successful Laureateship with a lecture that will reflect upon the state of poetry based on her first term “Office Hours” at the Library and her second term project, the PBS NewsHour series “Where Poetry Lives.” She will also consider the legacy of previous Laureates such as Robert Penn Warren; the role of the poet as public intellectual; and poetry’s role in remembrance of and reckoning with our past—with particular focus on the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement.

To help celebrate Natasha’s lecture, which acts as a preview of sorts for the Library’s Civil Rights Act exhibit, we decided to try our hand at a display. The Poetry and Literature Center is programs-based and not collections-based, unlike many other divisions at the Library; nevertheless, we had a couple of items to start with: a photo of Natasha from her first term final lecture and a signed broadside Virginia Quarterly Review made for that occasion. We added the Library’s general collections copy of Lucille Clifton’s book Blessing the Boats, flipped open to the poem “Jasper Texas 1998”—a poem Natasha will refer to during the lecture. She will also refer to the book Brother to Dragons by former Poet Laureate Robert Penn Warren—we got a first edition of the book for our display, from the Library’s Rare Book and Special Collections Division.

The Poet Laureate Final Lecture Display.

The last item we received for the display was arguably the most exciting: a copy of Natasha’s notes for the lecture, which she is still adding the finishing touches on. I’m eager to get the actual notes in our display next week, when she comes to give the lecture; in the meantime, if you are in the area please come to see the display. And don’t miss Natasha’s lecture on Wednesday, May 14th—it will take place in the historic Coolidge Auditorium at 7:00 PM, and afterwards we’ll follow tradition with a lovely reception. We hope you can join us to say good-bye to Natasha in her current role, and celebrate all she has done for the Library and for poetry.

Comments (6)

  1. I so wish I would have been lucky enough to be in the D.C. area next week so I could come to the LOC and Ms. Trethewey’s Poet Laureate Final Lecture. I was lucky enough to hear her read and take questions at a Cave Canem/The New School co-sponsored event in New York City back in Sept. 2012. She is simply amazing! I would loved to have heard this coming lecture of hers, most especially her views on the role of the poet as public intellectual. Can you please, please tell me, will there be a taping of this event that we may be able to see/hear on-line or broadcast on television on some future date? Or if not, a transcript of her address that we might be able to read someplace, somehow? Could you kindly let us know? And to Ms. Trethewey, best wishes for this coming event and many, many thanks for sharing your gifts, your grace, your help advancing the wonder of poetry and many best wishes as you move forward! You are a complete inspiration to me!

    • Dear Barbara,

      Thanks for your comment, and for your great enthusiasm about our Poet Laureate! We will in fact videotape tonight’s lecture and make it available online in the future–I will add a comment to this when it’s up.

      Yrs. Rob

  2. A lot of people, including me are going to miss Natasha. Her poetry is vibrant, filled with life. and the lessons it teaches.

    I heard Natasha read at a poetry festival in Chesapeake, Va. some years ago.

    Little did I know.

    Best wishes Natasha. We’ll be looking forward to more poetry.

  3. A lot of people, including me are going to miss Natasha. Her poetry is vibrant, filled with life. and the lessons it teaches.

    I heard Natasha read at a poetry festival in Chesapeake, Va. some years ago.

    Little did I know!
    Best wishes, Natasha. We’ll be looking forward to more poetry.\ from you.

  4. To Rob Casper,

    That would be so very wonderful! I am so excited! Yes, yes, please let me know when I will be able to see it! You are very kind to respond to let me know either way!

    Warmly,
    Bárbara Herrnsdorf

    • Will do! Yrs. Rob

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