HANAPEPE — The first Kaua‘i international, inter-generational, multiethnic poetry celebration will be this weekend at Storybook Theatre in Hanapepe. To commemorate National Poetry Month, events will be Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They are free and open to poets, poetry lovers,
HANAPEPE — The first Kaua‘i international, inter-generational, multiethnic poetry celebration will be this weekend at Storybook Theatre in Hanapepe.
To commemorate National Poetry Month, events will be Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They are free and open to poets, poetry lovers, and everyone else who does not yet know that they are poets and poetry lovers, says organizer Steven Backinoff.
“My vision is to create an annual international poetry celebration as part of growing creative alternatives toward a sustainable healthy economy,” Backinoff said.
Performances begin for Art and Music at 6 p.m. Friday. The words of poets, living and dead, will fill the night air. At 8 p.m. the event moves inside for more types of poetry, including song, rap and dance.
Saturday events begin at 10 a.m. with “Poems from Prompts” to share and honor entries from local poets. Send your poems to sbackinoff@hawaii.rr.com.
“We are getting amazing entries and it is never too late to enter,” Backinoff said.
The Prompts are; “If I created the world …” and/or “If I was completely free …” The only requirement is to show up Saturday morning to recite your work.
After lunch in the Peace Garden, the afternoon continues with creative playshops and seminars on poetry, from Hawaiian and indigenous, to the romantic and silly. A poetry of protest forum will include a council of all beings, from the perspective of rocks, plants, animals and the elements.
An open mic session begin at 7 p.m. Saturday. It is open to everyone with the only rule to respect the time limit.
A Universal Sacred Poetry Ceremony will be on Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. It will honor world traditions to include dances of universal peace.
Backinoff came to Kaua‘i in the late 1980s and joined various writers groups for support and constructive criticism. He started an evening poetry reading at Café Coco, which in turn inspired participants to hold events around the island.
A decade later the poetry circles began celebrating National Poetry Month in April, with events at St. Michael’s Church in Lihu’e.
“This year I was inspired by many things,” Backinoff said.
The idea for this event came after hearing Mark Jeffers present about creating at his Storybook theatre. It seemed appropriate to hold the event at the Peace Garden, Backinoff said.
“For one, it has a statue of Spark Masayuki Matsunaga, who helped to establish the National Poet Laureate and the International Peace Institute,” he said.
Jeffers sculpted the Peace Garden with a statue honoring the late “Sparks”, and has a big room for performances. He also offers arts classes for children of all ages that emphasize living in peace.
Donations to Storybook theatre are accepted.
• Tom LaVenture, staff writer, can be reached at 245-0424 or tlaventure@thegardenisland.com.
