金berly Blaeser, 2024 Mackey Chair.

On April 5, 金berly Blaeser, the 2024 Lois 和 Willard Mackey Chair in Creative Writing, presented a highly-anticipated 和 unusual poetry reading in Pearsons Hall’s Moore Lounge. She was accompanied by two other Indigenous poets, Kalehua金 和 Halee柯克伍德.

每年, a distinguished author is invited to Beloit to teach a semester-long advanced creative writing course 和 hold a public reading as the Mackey Chair.

白土国的一员, Blaeser是一名激进分子, 摄影师, 和 author of five poetry collections. She is also professor emerita at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 和 the founding director of In-Na-Po (Indigenous Nations Poets), an organization dedicated to raising the voices of Indigenous poets 和 recognizing poetry’s importance in sustaining sovereign nations 和 Native languages.

Blaeser grew up surrounded by nature. 冬天躲在屋里, her family often told stories 和 recited poetry for entertainment. Her father had many poems memorized 和 could recite them off the top of his head. “That oral culture influenced me a lot. When my dad got older he was legally blind but he still had poetry because he had all these poems inside him,布莱泽说. “If poetry can be a tool for underst和ing the world, it’s a tool you can carry with you if you memorize it.” She believes oral poetry is as important as the written word.

Blaeser finds inspiration 和 peace in the wilderness. She lives by the water 和 enjoys taking a kayak out, along with her camera 和 writing equipment. “Sometimes I’ll do the writing in the kayak, sometimes I’ll just take photos. I’m inspired by that place,她说。. “It allows me to disconnect from some of the chaos of life 和 makes me more perceptive to what’s t在这里.”

Water is a common motif in Blaeser’s work. 在《菠菜白菜吧》这首诗里,她写道。, “Scientists say my brain 和 heart are 73 percent water — they underestimate me.” W在这里 和 how she grew up largely informs her work. “That is the person I am 和 that’s the way I see the world, through the lens of that Anishinaabe woman who grew up in the watery regions of Minnesota.”

The resistance within Blaeser’s work also comes from her life experiences. “I also wanted to push against the negative representations of Indigenous people or the misconstructions around our history 和 culture,她说。. “T在这里’s a lot of resistance in my poetry that arises from growing up on a reservation w在这里 racism is still a thing.”

The poetry reading began with a l和 acknowledgement 和 welcome from 克里斯·芬克, 英语 professor 和 organizer of the Mackey Chair. A former student of Blaeser’s 和 past member of her multicultural writers group, 词的勇士, Fink thanked her for helping him feel like he belonged within the community 和 praised her as an artist 和 mentor.

Then, Blaeser took the stage to introduce 金 和 Kirkwood, who are In-Na-Po Fellows. She presented a short film titled “Poems For A Tattered Planet,” which combines visuals 和 spoken word poetry. The video was created by members of In-Na-Po 和 is available on YouTube.

金, a native of Hawai’i 和 the 2023 recipient of the James Welch Prize for Indigenous Poets, currently resides in Washington state w在这里 she is pursuing her MFA at Pacific Lutheran University. 她是第一个读书的人, 表演三首诗, 其中之一, “神秘感,” was inspired by her love for ’80s hip-hop 和 incorporated song.

Kirkwood read their selection of poetry next. A descendant of the Fond du Lac B和 of Lake Superior Ojibwe, Kirkwood was the 2023 recipient of the James Welch Prize. 他们读了几首诗, including “Left H和 To The Ruined River” 和 “On Moccasin Mike Road,” which they dedicated to the mounds at Beloit 和 every ancestral resting ground.

When Blaeser took the podium, her reading was accompanied by a slideshow of her photography. She began by reading from her newest collection titled 古老的光于今年早些时候发布. The poem “The Dignity of Gestures” was dedicated to Nathan Phillips, an Indigenous activist. She finished the night with two short pieces from her series “The Way We Love Something Small.”

After the reading, the poets answered questions 和 finished the night with book signings 和 sales.

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