"The poems give the audience a glimpse of variety of cultures and ethnic groups we have in this country," says Library Media Coordinator Kumi Watanabe-Schock. "Some insights are quite thought provoking while others are funny, profound, and I find them completely fascinating. I like the fact that these local poets are also current and former HSU faculty and staff. What talent we have amongst our people," she adds.
Poets representing current HSU faculty are Dick Stull, a professor from the School of Kinesiology and Recreation Administration in addition to being a published author, spoken word artist and musician; Marlon Sherman from the Native American Studies Department who has taught numerous courses at HSU over the years including Native American Poetry; and Barbara Curiel, a professor from the Women's Studies and English departments and author of "Nocturno, Vocabulary of the Dead", and "Speak To Me From Dreams".
Community poets include Jerry Martien, a poet and activist in the Humboldt Bay area; Mark Shikuma, former director of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum; Daryl Ngee Chinn, a poet and poet-teacher for the California Poets in the Schools; and Mary Hope Whitehead, an award-winning poet published in Essence Magazine and "This Bridge Called My Back", a collection of feminist writings.
The HSU Library has been hosting the Multicultural Poetry Reading since 2005. Originally designed as component of the Campus Dialogue on Race, this year organizers are embracing National Poetry Month by moving it to April.
The event is free and open to the public.