February 10, 2011, Thursday - 'Low Down And Coming On Anthology Reading' at The Loft

Time: 7:00pm

Location: Target Performance Hall, Open Book, 1011 Washington Avenue South

Admission:  Free

A corpulent, beautifully designed hardcover anthology of 133 poems (and one recipe) by 103 poets (and one architect), edited with an introduction by James P. Lenfestey. The anthology is dedicated to poet and essayist Bill Holm, whose idea it was before he died unexpectedly in 2009.   Eric Utne, founder of the Utne Reader, says this anthology finally “proves that pigs do fly.” Editor Lenfestey declares, “These are poems you can EAT!”

Lenfestey has done a yeoman’s job gathering up poems from around the world and throughout literary time, including poems by a Nobel Prize winner (Pablo Neruda, in a new translation), two US Poet Laureates (Donald Hall, Ted Kooser), five state poet laureates (Robert Bly, Jane Gentry, William Kloefcorn, David Lee, Linda Pastan) and one Provincial treasure (John B. Lee).  Plus nearly 100 others, some published here for the first time, others multiple blue ribbon winners.   All the poets seem to find in our close porcine cousins something both delicious and dangerous, “so right its wrong,” as one poet says of his gourmand love.

In an introductory essay, Lenfestey roots through the history of pig poetry since Homer and Han-shan, uncovering many tasty surprises.  His aside on “proper pig diction” is a linguistic revelation, his call for “proper pig relations” a humane grunt.

Readers will finish this literary feast not only ordering “pasture-raised” pork for their dinner tables, but demanding a slice of Low Down and Coming On for everyday breakfasts and bedtime snacks.

About the event:
Local contributors Jill Breckinridge,  Sharon Chmielarz, Margaret Hasse, Jim Heynen, Kate Kysar, George Roberts, Morgan Grace Willow, and the ghost of Bill Holm will call out their own poems plus one or more of the others. Special guest Dan Bohnshorst, from Red Wing, will read Pablo Neruda’s “Bestario” in Spanish as well as his own English translation.