~ Wick Poetry Center ~

Thank You, Tree by Fatou M’Baye

On 11 October, 2017 by Dave Bonta with 0 Comments - Performance Poetry, Videopoems
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Nathan Tranbarger filmed and edited this video for the Wick Poetry Center’s Traveling Stanzas project, which has been going on now as long as Moving Poems. I’m happy to see that they’re not only still around; they’ve expanded into a proper online magazine as well as maintaining the public poetry poster side of the project. Kent State Magazine also has a short piece about this video:

[Fatou] M’Baye wrote the poem “Thank You, Tree” last fall as a fifth-grader attending the Holden Elementary School Writer’s Club, an after-school program. David Hassler, director of the Wick Poetry Center, held a workshop at the club as part of the center’s outreach efforts to the community. “In the first session, we started with the idea of being grateful for something in our lives,” says Hassler. “Fatou chose this tree.”

“I wanted to thank her for helping me and my friends,” says M’Baye. “I wanted to thank all the trees. Without them we wouldn’t have healthy, happy lives.” […]

Since 2009 illustrated poems have made their way across Northeast Ohio, displayed on buses and transit systems and printed on posters and postcards as a project of the College of Arts and Sciences’ Wick Poetry Center. Now these poetry illustrations are journeying around the world as part of an interactive website and traveling exhibit that launched this fall, with support from the Ohio Arts Council.

Traveling Stanzas—an award-winning collaboration between the Wick Poetry Center and the School of Visual Communication Design—aims to facilitate a global conversation through the intimate and inclusive voice of poetry. Featured poems are curated from global submissions and illustrated by Kent State students and alumni.

Click through to see the poster made for M’Baye’s poem.

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Testimonial by Rita Dove

On 19 October, 2015 by Dave Bonta with 0 Comments - Animation
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An animated poem from the Traveling Stanzas public poetry project at Kent State University’s Wick Poetry Center, in which illustrated poetry broadsheets are also given a video form. In this case, the art was the work of Christopher Darling, and the animator was The New Fuel studio. Rita Dove probably needs no introduction.

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Grassy Grayson by Grayson Cahal

On 6 June, 2013 by Dave Bonta with 0 Comments - Animation
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Grayson Cahal was in the 3rd grade (in Chatham Elementary School, Lodi, Ohio), so 8 or 9 years old, when he wrote this astonishing poem. Ruth Turner did the animation, and the accompanying poster was designed by Ryan Sprowl.

This video is one in a series – part of the second Healing Edition of the Traveling Stanzas project which is a collaborative effort between the Wick Poetry Center‘s outreach program and the Glyphix design studio at Kent State University.

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Moon in the Window by Dorianne Laux

On 22 May, 2013 by Dave Bonta with 0 Comments - Animation
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http://vimeo.com/66443184

Artwork (for the accompanying poster) and animation are both by Alison Farone of Glyphix design studio.

The 2013 edition of Traveling Stanzas is a collaborative project between Kent State University’s Wick Poetry Center and Glyphix design studio. This series combines the creative talents of KSU Visual Communication Design students with student writers (grades 3–12), health care providers, patients, veterans and professional writers to encourage dialogue about the connection between art and medicine, writing and healing.

Much appreciation to Dorianne Laux who graciously allowed us to us her poem “Moon in the Window” as inspiration for a poster design and poetry animation.

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Ode to My Body by Scott Parson’s 12th Grade Class

On 12 March, 2013 by Dave Bonta with 0 Comments - Animation
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This collaboratively written poem comes from Scott Parson’s 12th Grade Class at the Maplewood Career Center in Ravenna, Ohio. It was animated by Adam Rechtenwald from a design by Eric Stearns, and is part of the 2009-2010 edition — Peace Stanzas — of the Wick Poetry Center’s Traveling Stanzas program.

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Things That Have No Name by the Psychiatric Intensive Outpatient Therapy Group

On 25 February, 2013 by Dave Bonta with 1 Comments - Animation
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An outstanding collaborative poem credited to the Psychiatric Intensive Outpatient Therapy Group, Summa Health Systems. Alex McClelland made this film based on a poster design by fellow Kent State University student Nate Mucha. Poster and animation are part of the Healing Stanzas project. (Here are the poster and the text.)

A Tree is Everything by Manasvi Bantawa

On 30 January, 2013 by Dave Bonta with 0 Comments - Animation
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Manasvi Bantawa was a 3rd Grade student, so 8 or 9 years old, when this animation was made two years ago by Alex McClelland, working from a poster design by Zack Montrunecs. It’s part of the Healing Stanzas project:

Healing Stanzas is a collaborative project between Kent State University’s Wick Poetry Center and Glyphix design studio. This series combines the creative talents of KSU Visual Communication Design students with student writers (grades 3–12), health care providers, medical students, patients, and veterans to encourage dialogue about the connection between art and medicine, writing and healing.

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