New Addition! Wed., Oct 21, 7pm: Poetry at Eagle Rock Plaza

Wednesday, October 21

7:00pm-10:00pm Light the Sky Poetry Series
The Metro Cafe, Eagle Rock Plaza
2700 Colorado Blvd., Los Angeles, 90041

Come join us as poets Brendan Constantine, Elizabeth Iannaci, Charlotte Innes, and Cathie Sandstrom read Jeffers poetry and add their unique and dynamic voices to Light the Sky at Eagle Rock Plaza. See Light the Sky Poetry Series website for more information.

Join us for this weekend's Big Read Events!

Saturday, October 17

9:30am – 11:00am
Family Nature Walk in Debs Park
Audubon Center at Debs Park
4700 North Griffin Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90031
Explore fall in Debs Park on this walk focusing on the poetry of Robinson Jeffers and nature. Hear poetry and create your own poem about Debs Park. Families with children of all ages are welcome.

2:00pm – 3:00pm
Wildlife Waystation presentation
Glendale Central Library Auditorium
222 E. Harvard St., Glendale, CA 91205
Reflecting Robinson Jeffers’ passion for the rich beauty of the natural world, the Glendale Public Library will host an event with the Wildlife Waystation who will discuss the organization's mission and history. Included in the event will be a presentation with a live great horned owl. The Wildlife Waystation, located in the Angeles National Forest, was founded in 1976 as a rescue and rehabilitation refuge for both native and exotic wild animals.

3:30pm – 4:30pm
Jeffers in Debs Park
Audubon Center at Debs Park
4700 North Griffin Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90031
Drop by the Center to see our Arroyo Seco Museum Science Magnet School students’ art and poetry inspired by the works of Robinson Jeffers. Students will be on hand to describe their creations.

4:00pm – 5:00pm
Poetry Reading by Los Angeles Poetry Festival
Arroyo Seco Regional Library, Los Angeles Public Library
6145 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042
"The Deer Lay Down Their Bones:” Poems by and in the spirit of Robinson Jeffers. California poets will read Jeffers’ poetry and their own responses. Led by Suzanne Lummis of the Los Angeles Poetry Festival and featuring Dorothy Barresi, B.H. Fairchild, and Lynn Thompson with special guest poets Erika Ayon and Judith Pacht.

Sunday, October 18

3:30pm – 5:00pm
Friends of LA River Walking Tour
Lower Arroyo Seco Nature Park, Friends of the LA River
Join us for a special walking tour along the Arroyo Seco that combines poetry and nature! Explore one of the beautiful tributaries of the Los Angeles River that features restored native vegetation, walking paths and spectacular, historic bridges. Meet at 3:30 pm at the Lower Arroyo Seco Nature Park parking lot located at South Arroyo Blvd. and Norwood Drive. Walks are about an hour and a half and we ask a suggested donation of $10. See Friends of the LA River website for directions.

Troop 235 and The Big Read

Check out photos of Girl Scouts of America Troop 235's Jeffers poetry project at the Ethnobotanical Garden at the Southwest Museum of the American Indian here!

Troop 235 member Elisa Montag's reflection on the project:

In late August, I met with two Occidental College Librarians and discussed the BIG READ program dedicated to Robinson Jeffers. We decided we would work with the Southwest Museum and help them with their big event: the unveiling of a sculpture commemorating Native Americans in the museum's courtyard. On September 20, an Occidental English Professor came and talked with San Marino Girl Scout Troop 235 about Robinson Jeffers's poetry. Later, we met with a graphic designer, Kay Brown, and discussed how to incorporate Jeffers's poetry with the unveiling ceremony. We decided we would put up signs with excerpts from Jeffers's poems. Then on October 4, with the help of our graphic designer, we completed and installed all the signs. At the unveiling ceremony on October 10, we did a choral reading of Jeffers's poem, "The Beauty Of Things." Finally, we went to the garden and presented our signs to the guests.

Thursday: Jeffers on Nature of Things & Things of Nature

Thursday, October 15

4:30pm – 6:00pm

Keynote Panel: “Robinson Jeffers on the Nature of Things and the Things of Nature”

Occidental College, Johnson Hall, Alumni Auditorium

1600 Campus Road, Los Angeles, CA 90041

A panel of Jeffers scholars will discuss the scientific and poetic ways of understanding the world including the relationship of poetry—Jeffers’ poetry in particular—to evolution, natural history and ecological concerns in the modern period. For panelists and bios, click thru the posting title.

Photos and recent Coverage

The Big Read was featured in the Eastsider LA blog--check it out here!

Also, check out our Facebook fan page for new photos from last week's Big Read events here! And while you're there, become a fan!

Fans of Jeffers: Full Schedule & Details

Just a reminder that the full schedule is online. Click this posting title or visit The Big Read: Robinson Jeffers Facebook page. Are you a fan yet?

Check out our Facebook page for photos and coverage of the Big Read!

Click on this post's title to go straight to our Facebook page. While you're there, become a fan!

Here are some links to coverage the Big Read has been getting:

Occidental Weekly
Sierra Club Magazine
LA Blips blog
Highland Park blog
SoCal Minds blog
Cheapsters blog
Eastsider LA blog

This Weekend's Big Read Events!

Saturday, October 10

2:00pm – 3:00pm
Jeffers in the Ethnobotanical Garden opening
Southwest Museum of the American Indian
234 Museum Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90065
Engage with Jeffers poetry while walking through the Ethnobotanical Garden. Poetry chosen and placed in the garden by the girls of Girl Scout Troop 235.

2:00pm – 3:00pm
Tongva Tiat Sculpture Dedication
Southwest Museum of the American Indian
234 Museum Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90065
The dedication of a sculpture donated to the museum by the Southwest Museum Docent Council will be highlighted by readings of Jeffers poetry. The sculpture, installed in the patio at the museum entrance, is a steel model of the Tiat, the traditional plank canoe with which the Tongva/Gabrielino peoples plied the waters between the mainland and the Channel Islands. The sculpture is the work of local artist, Gerardo Hacer, who creates what he calls “steel origami”. Light refreshments will be served.

4:00pm - 5:30pm
Poetry Reading by Los Angeles Poetry Festival
El Alisal / Lummis House
200 East Avenue 43, Los Angeles, CA 90031
"The Deer Lay Down Their Bones:” Poems by and in the spirit of Robinson Jeffers. California poets will read Jeffers’ poetry and their own responses. Led by Suzanne Lummis of the Los Angeles Poetry Festival and featuring Charles Harper Webb, Cecilia Woloch, actress Dale Raoul (True Blood) reading the poetry of Robinson Jeffers, and special guest poet Jamie Asae FitzGerald. Presented by the Historical Society of Southern California.

Photos from this Weekend's Big Read Events

Check out the Big Read Facebook page for photos from this weekend's events:

1. "The Deer Lay Down Their Bones:” Poems by and in the spirit of Robinson Jeffers. California poets will read Jeffers’ poetry and their own responses. Led by Suzanne Lummis of the Los Angeles Poetry Festival and featuring Sarah Maclay, Carine Topal, William Archila, Brendan Constantine with special guest poets Charlotte Innes and Terry McCarty.
Location: Eagle Rock Branch, Los Angeles Public Library

2. In poetry of great scope and precise detail, Robinson Jeffers discovered the divinity of nature as it is understood by modern science. Jeffers documented his discoveries in thrilling and violent “verse novels,” set in California’s coastal mountains, and meditative lyric poems that express an environmental secular faith that is still relevant today. Presented by George Hart, Associate Professor of English at California State University, Long Beach and Co-editor of Jeffers Studies.
Location: Vroman's Book Store, Pasadena

Saturday, Oct 2: Eagle Rock & Pasadena!

Visit Vroman's at 1pm and Eagle Rock Library at 4pm, details at....

Schedule of Events (new improved website!)

Jeffers Big Read Kick Off

Here are links to photos and story from Oxy! Great event, lots of poetry, and thoughtful remarks. We raised $253 in donations for Wildlife Waystation with Jeffers T-shirts.
http://www.oxy.edu/x8952.xml
http://www.facebook.com/occidental
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oxyphotos/sets/72157622501803044/

Check out our Facebook page for more photos from the kickoff:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=125902&id=135260811486&ref=mf

The Big Read Kicks Off Tonight! More Events on Saturday

Thursday, October 1

6:00pm - 8:00pm Kick Off for The Big Read
Mary Norton Clapp Library, Occidental College
1600 Campus Road, Los Angeles, CA 90041

Join Oxy, our community partners and special guests to launch The Big Read with poetry reading by the Oxy community, a message from Robinson Jeffers to Oxy recorded in 1955. The night marks the opening of "Robinson Jeffers and the Ecologies of Poetry" exhibit featuring a wide selection of rare Jeffers artifacts, photos, and books, works of Oxy and local poets and works by Los de Abajo Printmaking Collective on the theme of water, exhibits on North Los Angeles ecology. Big Read t-shirts will be available, and donations for these shirts will support the Wildlife Waystation.

Saturday, October 3

1:00pm – 2:00pm Jeffers Poetry presented by George Hart
Vroman's Bookstore
695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101

In poetry of great scope and precise detail, Robinson Jeffers discovered the divinity of nature as it is understood by modern science. Jeffers documented his discoveries in thrilling and violent “verse novels,” set in California’s coastal mountains, and meditative lyric poems that express an environmental secular faith that is still relevant today. Presented by George Hart, Associate Professor of English at California State University, Long Beach and Co-editor of Jeffers Studies.

3:00pm - 4:30pm Poetry Reading by Los Angeles Poetry Festival
Eagle Rock Branch, Los Angeles Public Library
5027 Caspar Avenue, Los Angeles, 90041

"The Deer Lay Down Their Bones:” Poems by and in the spirit of Robinson Jeffers. California poets will read Jeffers’ poetry and their own responses. Led by Suzanne Lummis of the Los Angeles Poetry Festival and featuring Sarah Maclay, Carine Topal, William Archila, Brendan Constantine with special guest poets Charlotte Innes and Terry McCarty.

The Occidental Weekly on the Big Read

Check out Occidental Weekly writer Richie DeMaria's excellent front-page story on The Big Read here!

Kick Off this Thursday! See Schedule for more

Thursday, October 1

6:00pm - 8:00pm Kick Off for The Big Read
Mary Norton Clapp Library, Occidental College
1600 Campus Road, Los Angeles, CA 90041

Join Oxy, our community partners and special guests to launch The Big Read with poetry reading by the Oxy community, a message from Robinson Jeffers to Oxy recorded in 1955. The night marks the opening of "Robinson Jeffers and the Ecologies of Poetry" exhibit featuring a wide selection of rare Jeffers artifacts, photos, and books, works of Oxy and local poets and works by Los de Abajo Printmaking Collective on the theme of water, exhibits on North Los Angeles ecology. Big Read t-shirts will be available, and donations for these shirts will support the Wildlife Waystation.

Want to know more about Robinson Jeffers?

The NEA Big Read website offers an interesting biography of Robinson Jeffers. You can listen to a 40 minute radio show that includes poetry readings.

Become a Fan of Robinson Jeffers!

The Big Read: Robinson Jeffers and the Ecologies of Poetry is now on Facebook! Become a fan and post event pictures and comments. Also look for the schedule of events and more information about the Big Read.

A Jeffers poem in your pocket?

To feel greatly, and understand greatly, and express greatly, the natural Beauty, is the sole business of poetry. --Robinson Jeffers, The Beauty of Things

Sign up today and follow Robinson Jeffers at http://twitter.com/RobinsonJeffers. You'll receive lines of a Jeffers "poem-tweet" in your cell phone or on your computer screen throughout the day. Look forward to a new poem daily. A powerful way to pause, reflect and connect.

Poems are brought to you as part of The Big Read: Robinson Jeffers and the Ecologies of Poetry, presented by Occidental College and 15 community partners October 1 through November 7, 2009.

Sierra Club follows Jeffers Big Read

Visit the Sierra Club's online community and its blog about our Big Read events: Nature Poetry and The Big Read . Hope you'll share your thoughts.

Following Robinson Jeffers' poetic path in Big Sur

In recent Sunday LA Times Travel section, Scott Timberg writes of Following Robinson Jeffers' poetic path in Big Sur ...Big Sur was the setting and inspiration for many of Jeffers' writings. The result: poems that, like the area, were often serene, often wild, often thought-provoking. You can visit Scott Timberg at http://scott-timberg.blogspot.com/

Schedule of Events Now Available

"Schedule at a Glance" is a quick listing of events. See the calendar for full description of events, then check the map for locations.