Poem finds a
home
U. of C. professor Mark Strand
(right) has his words displayed high above Chicago
Avenue
Published December 28, 2003
NEAR
NORTH SIDE -- Some poetry may be emotion writ
large, but one Chicago writer's poetry is just written large these
days.
Lines from a poem by University of Chicago professor
Mark Strand, poet laureate of the United States from 1990 to 1991,
recently went up on a billboard near Chicago Avenue and Wells
Street. The lines, part of the poem "Five Dogs," from Strand's 1998
book, "Blizzard of One," will remain on the billboard for at least a
month.
The public display of poesy
is the work of the Poetry Center of Chicago, and the company that
usually uses the billboard, Lightology--which is in the building on
which the sign sits, 215 W. Chicago Ave.
"We were approached
by Lightology for the idea," said Kenneth Clarke, executive director
of the Poetry Center. "We've been wanting to do something with all
the Loop billboards that were put up back in the day. They had the
billboard, and we had the poets."
For publicity, the company
and the center put out a release quoting a New York Times review of
"Blizzard of One," and it fits well with having the lines on the
billboard.
"There are a handful of contemporary poets whom we
can consider only by gazing upward. ... Mark Strand is undeniably
one of these luminaries," wrote Deborah Garrison in her
review.
So look up the next time you're in the
neighborhood.
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To read more about the Poetry
Center, visit www.poetrycenter.org.
Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune
