'Poetry Project' to showcase diverse A2 talent

Whoever claims that poetry is a dead art had better stay away from the East Hall Auditorium this Friday, unless they're prepared to have this belief challenged. The State Street Poetry Project is bound and determined to show that poetry's heart is alive and beating, and that the younger generation of Ann Arbor writers boasts talent to equal the more established writers of the area.

PREVIEW
	State Street Poetry Project Tonight at 8 East Hall Auditorium, free

LSA sophomore Greg Epstein, founder and director of the SSPP, has made it his mission to bring these younger voices to the stage. "The reason people don't have a favorite (contemporary) poet is that it's been given up as hopeless to meet modern audiences," Epstein said. "What I'm trying to do is to provide the biggest, best forum possible for young writers in the area."

Unlike other contemporary poetry forums, the SSPP is neither a poetry slam nor a stage for performance art. Instead, Epstein focuses on poetry that is meant to be read on the page as well as spoken aloud.

All the poets bring their own voices to the poetry, which creates a different experience than simply reading verses on paper. The saying that graces SSPP's flyers, "Ann Arbor's best young writers go from page to stage" hints at the excitement that Epstein hopes the performance will deliver.

He likened this excitement to that generated by the Beat poets in their heyday, and by established writers in this community more recently. "Ginsberg could pack a large venue. Why can't there be that degree of urgency for the next generation of writers?" he asked.

Rather than confining poetry to a dark corner of a coffeeshop, Epstein wants to bring his show into the open, "to draw the public in." He wants the SSPP to be as diverse as it can be, and to be as widely advertised as possible.

The upcoming show features at least five Hopwood winners, ranging from sophomore undergraduates to current University faculty members. Not just poetry will be included; many different styles of writing will be featured, from fiction to poetry to what Epstein called, "an innovative form of poetry written for the page, but with an exciting performance in mind."

LSA junior Zu Ziomecka plans to perform a poem based around the restrictions that society places on nudity.

"I feel as if I should say something ahead of time about Zu's performance," Epstein said. "It's different than the other pieces. She's the kind of person who has a lot of statements she wants to make." Epstein refrained from giving away too much about the performance, but added that the audience should find it funny and offbeat.

Other featured readers are University professor Brenda Cardenas, and students Dean Bakopoulos, Fritz Swanson, Neela Ghoshal, Sara Grosky, Jon Kidd and Epstein himself.

Even after this latest installment of the SSPP, Epstein has bigger plans for student poetry. The same team that put together this show is planning a grand exhibition in March in Rackham Auditorium.

"We're currently assembling a board of directors, including faculty and students, to choose 10-12 of the best writers in the Ann Arbor community" to be featured in the show, Epstein said. He hopes to include students at all points in their careers, from those doing their first reading to seasoned readers. Once again, diversity is key.

The show at Rackham will be sponsored, as the SSPP currently is, by the University Activities Committee and the Rude Mechanicals. It also receives support by the English Department, the Creative Writing Program, the Hopwood Program, the Michigan Quarterly Review and Shaman Drum.

But for now, Epstein is concentrating on Friday's show, pouring as much of his own life as he can into making the show exciting and accessible to the public.

With enthusiasm like this, there can be little doubt that poetry's heart is alive and ticking. The beat goes on.

04-11-97