Alamo is Site of Great Books Poetry Weekend
Great Books Council of San Francisco (serving Northern California) hosts its 23nd annual weekend of poetry discussions at Westminster Retreat, Alamo, November 15-16.
Three to four dozen are expected, including Jean Crane of Danville. Her phone, for interview, is (925)820-3345. She has attended previously.
"We are not experts in poetry -- just friendly people who enjoy reading and discussing poetry," says Brent Browning of Los Gatos, chairman of the event.
Cost : $154.00 includes four meals, dormitory-style room, a party, wine and cheese, and a copy of the readings.
The poems:
Saturday morning:
Theme: "On Being Human"
1. "Virgin Spring," by Kim Addonizio
2. "Anger, Gluttony, Grief, Sloth, Silence," by Stephen Dobyns
3. "Cassandra," by Edward Arlington Robinson
4. "The Heavy Bear Who Goes With Me," by Delmore Schwartz
5. "The Body Politic," by Donald Hall
6. "Tectonics," by Ted Kooser
Saturday afternoon:
Theme: "Poets on Poetry"
1. "Introduction to Poetry," by Billy Collins
2. "Paradoxes and Oxymorons," by John Ashbery
3. "The Poem as Mask," by Muriel Rukeyser
4. "On the Subject of Poetry," by W.S. Merwin
5. "Ars Poetica," by Archibald Macleish
6. "Non-Apologia," by Dean Young
Sunday morning:
"Potpourri," no theme.
1. "Time and Materials," by Robert Hass
2. "One Need Not Be a Chamber…," by Emily Dickinson
3. "Holy Sonnet #14," by John Donne
4. "Ulysses," by Alfred Tennyson
5. "To Autumn," by John Keats
6. "Don’t Look Now, But...," by Peter Viereck
To register, contact Theda or Oscar Firschein, registrars, at 650-854-3980 or
oscarf1@earthlink.net. If no response, call Brent Browning at 408-353-6340.
About the San Francisco Great Books Council
The Great Books Council of San Francisco, serving Northern California, is an affiliate of the Great Books Foundation, founded at the University of Chicago almost 60 years ago by Robert Maynard Hutchins and Mortimer J. Adler. A non-profit educational organization, its mission is to provide people of all ages the opportunity to read, discuss, and learn from outstanding works of literature, current and past, western and non-western.
Readings selected by the Council must be worth careful reading and provoke questions of interpretation that group discussion will help to illuminate. Participants must have read the selection and are discouraged from bringing up other works or extraneous matters until later. Everyone’s opinion is respected, newcomer and veteran alike.
The San Francisco council coordinates over 40 book groups throughout Northern California, publishes a monthly online and a semi-annual printed newsletter, provides leader training, helps start new book groups, and sponsors literary events in scenic locations. In addition to Poetry Weekend, each spring it holds a major event at Asilomar, Pacific Grove, and in late summer a long novel weekend in western Marin County. To learn more or join a group, log onto www.greatbooks-sf.com or contact GBSF president Kay White of Novato at (415)382-1927 or kaycleveland@aol.com .
NEXT YEAR: THE 2009 POETRY WEEKEND WILL BE IN ALAMO ON NOVEMBER 7-8, 2009