Mackinac Island Hosts Four Acclaimed Poets at Festival
By Bernie Nguyen

Poets Thomas R. Smith and Freya Manfred at Little Stone Church after their poetry reading. They were among four poets invited to participate in the Mackinac Island Poetry Festival.

"We all speak in prose, but poetry is really a more musical way of speaking," said Thomas R. Smith, one of four poets who came to Mackinac Island to help celebrate the Mackinac Island Poetry Festival, which was held July 28 and 29. Music and poetry describe the readings and workshops led by the poets, who included Mr. Smith, Susan Firer, Freya Manfred, and Jim Hazard, regional writers whose acclaim has garnered numerous awards and recognition across the country.

The festival was organized by cottager and poet Jim Lenfestey and sponsored by the Mackinac Arts Council, and included readings and workshops at Mackinac Island Public Library, Little Stone Church, Mission Point Resort, and Grand Hotel.

Poet Susan Firer spoke at the library about lilacs in American poetry, connecting the greater world of poetry with Mackinac Island's own traditions. (See separate story.)

Ms. Manfred and Mr. Smith read old poems as well as new work Friday evening, July 28, at Little Stone Church. Both poets amused and moved the audience with works ranging from the humorous to the deeply personal.

Ms. Manfred read a short excerpt of prose from her book, "Frederick Manfred: A Daughter Remembers," an account of her father's life and his final days.

Poetry, Mr. Smith said, is not something esoteric or pretentious, "it is important to our sense of keeping beauty alive in the world." It is, he said, the best medium for him to say what he is feeling.

"Poetry allows me to say things that I really can't say in any other way," he said. "I think it also helps keep truth alive."

One of the most common misconceptions about poetry, he added, is that it is difficult to understand. Poetry festivals help to correct that by exposing people to poetry that is accessible, that can be funny or moving without being complicated.

"It really awakens them to the possibility that poetry can be something for their own lives, something that belongs to them," he said.

Speaking enthusiastically about Mackinac Island, he said, "I love what I've seen. The feeling here is just fantastic."

Poetry was a more personal venture for Ms. Manfred, at first, she said.

"I think, originally, it was a way to find myself. Now, I write because it's really one of the things I do best."

A common misunderstanding about poetry is that it is out of touch and inaccessible to most people, she said, who "think that it's all written by dead people with dandruff on their shoulders. It's not some big stuffy thing," however, she said. "It's alive. It's part of a living world."

Four one-hour workshops at Mission Point Resort Saturday afternoon, July 29, allowed the four poets to interact freely with the public, and focused on the importance of location and setting, emotion, image, and vowel sounds. At-tendees listened to the poets' own views on what poetry should convey, and laughed when poet Jim Hazard quoted Ernest Hemingway in his discourse on location.

"You want to tell the agony, the ecstasy, and what the weather was," he said.

Mr. Hazard and his wife, Susan Firer, read a selection of their work at Little Stone Church that evening, followed by a reception at Grand Hotel.

"I think that poetry happens off in a dark corner most of the time," he said. By reading at poetry festivals, "we get it out in the open," he added. "I think [poetry festivals] really are of value. You want somebody besides the in-crowd to enjoy it.

"The first thing about writing poetry," Mr. Hazard told the audience, "is that it saves experience from disappearing. It's a kind of memory. Poetry just says, 'Wait, wait. Let's save that.' I like the way it takes advantage of most of what language has to offer."

People inexperienced with poetry may feel that it is too far removed from them, he noted.

"I think they think it's for some sort of special crowd, and it's just not," he said. "It's the most natural thing in the world. If you listen to kids talking in the sandbox, nine out of ten times they're talking poetry."

Of his first trip to Mackinac Island, he said, "I love it. It's like being in San Francisco, where it's just beautiful all the time."

Ms. Firer also spoke of the poetry festival as a venue which added great value to the art of poetry.

"I think there's something magic about hearing a person read their poems," she said. "It opens it up in another way. When you do a reading like this, it's a way to pass it on."

The thing about poetry that she feels many people misunderstand is its ability to be enjoyable.

"I think a lot of people were taught early on that a poem is a kind of deep puzzle that you have to figure out, instead of something to be enjoyed," she said, adding that readings often help people find the pleasure in poetry.

Mr. Lenfestey said the festival was a success.

"I knew the poets were wonderful, and I knew that the people who heard them would be taken to wonderful places," he said. "Everyone was so supportive."

He had hoped for a larger audience, but allowed that the challenges of attracting more people, especially during the busiest part of the summer, can be overcome with experience. If another festival takes place, and he hopes it will, Mr. Lenfestey said he plans to give more visitors

a chance to attend and to attract people who may be wary of poetry.

"It's not about somebody judging you," he said, "It's about someone opening you up. They're designed to tell you stories to illuminate your own lives," he said of poetry festivals.

Little Stone Church readings were introduced with classical music performed by Tess Miller on flute and Dessislava Nenova on cello.