WRITERS RESIST: POETS SPEAK UP AGAINST TRUMP
America’s leading poets who can’t stand the idea of a presidency held by Donald Trump are not about to go gently into that good night. Poetry slams are being organized in 32 states, as well as in Amsterdam, Hong Kong, London and Singapore, and “Writers Resist” rallies are expected in New York, Boston and 90 other US cities in the run-up to Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
America’s leading poets are averse to Donald Trump, and they’re not about to go gently into that good night.
Poetry slams and other literary events are being organized nationwide in the run-up to the president- elect’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
Some, like this weekend’s “Writers Resist” rallies in New York, Boston and 90 other U.S. cities, are overtly in protest. Others are merely an attempt to find a little solace and beauty in verse.
“Our country was founded on brilliant writing,” said Erin Belieu, an award-winning poet who runs the creative writing pro- gram at Florida State University. She hatched the Writers Resist movement “to re-inaugurate the best of our democratic ideals.”
On Sunday, poets, writers and artists will gather in 32 states — as well as in Amsterdam, Hong Kong, London and Singapore — to read aloud from their own works and quote inspirational passages from others.
The lead event in the series sponsored by the writers’ group PEN America will be staged on the steps of the New York Public Library and feature former U.S. poet laureates Robert Pinsky and Rita Dove.
Daniel Evans Pritchard, a Bos- ton writer, said he and others in the literary world are troubled by the tone of Trump’s tweets and worried the incoming new administration will have a chilling effect on freedom of expression.
“Language is the tool we use to build our political and democratic structures,” he said. “To suggest that words don’t matter is to say the Constitution is just words; the Bill of Rights is just words.”
Trump transition team officials didn’t return emails seeking comment. Trump’s camp hasn’t said whether he plans to include poetry in his inauguration — a tradition for presidential swearings-in. /