Boston Poet Laureate Leads Open-Mic Event

Brighton's Sam Cornish, Boston's Poet Laureate, will be master-of-ceremonies for an evening of poetry and prose at the Brighton Allston Congregational Church, 404 Washington Street, this Saturday at 7 pm.

It will be an open-mic event, so bring your own fall-colored poetry on the theme, "Thankful People: an evening of prose and poetry celebrating Thanksgiving and the fall season."

The event is free, although donations will be accepted for the church's community supper kitchen.


Image of Sam Cornish from an interview published by Cervena Barva Press.

Boston Poetry From Brighton Resident

Boston now has its first poet laureate:  Sam Cornish, a resident of Brighton and a former professor at Emerson College.  His appointment was first announced by Mayor Thomas Menino's in his State of the City speech last Tuesday night.

Writes the Boston Globe editorial page:

Cornish gives an eclectic account of his life. An African-American, born in 1935 "at the edge of the Depression," Cornish has seen the world change and changed with it. He wrote while he was in the Army in the 1950s; and he praises the military for lifting him out of segregated society and placing him in an integrated setting, where he recalls talking books and writing with other soldiers who also wrote. He loves comic books, westerns, and Rachael Ray. And, he adds, "My wife has raised me well."...

What Boston won't be getting from its new laureate is poetry on demand, according to Alice Hennessey, an aide to the mayor and the chairwoman of the task force that chose Cornish. That's good news. Boston doesn't need cheesy paeans. Instead, the city should follow Cornish's lead and create a public chorus of lyrical voices.

No cheesy paeans?  Too bad.  I was hoping for an Ode to the Olde A Lyne.