ForeWord Magazine the Paterson Poetry Prize
Entertainment Weekly The Waiting Room Reader
One possible stab at a solution comes from CavanKerry Press, which has put together The Waiting Room Reader, a collection of poetry meant to be somewhat more inspiring and enjoyable than those pamphlets on the dangers of childhood obesity. Last year, 5,000 copies of the book were sent to 200 waiting rooms in 28 hospitals for free as a sort of test run. Successful feedback has now led to a second printing that is being sold to doctors’ lobbies across the country. “Our goal was to provide reading material that people would actually want to read,” says Joan Cusack Handler, the collection’s editor. “The waiting room can be a worrying place, so it’s nice to have something other than a few golf magazines. Honestly, I can’t believe no one ever thought of it before.” It’s an interesting prospect, even if you’re not big on poetry. I, for one, would be glad for a little more variety while waiting, and literature doesn’t go out of date like magazines do. Novels would probably run a little too long (although, at some appointments, I’m not too sure), but what about short story collections? Nothing like a bit of Alice Munro or John Cheever to prepare you for your GP’s prodding fingers. What do you think, Shelf-Lifers? Would you like to see something different in the waiting room the next time you’re there? Or are you happy reading up on the latest news about the 2004 election?
Institute for International Sport Selects “Losing Season” The Institute for International Sport at the University of Rhode Island has selected the acclaimed publication “Losing Season” by Jack Ridl as the Institute’s “2009 Sports Education Book of the Year”. The Institute created this award to recognize exceptional sport-themed books that contribute to the education of youth and adults, and to the American sports culture. The award was instituted in 2008 with the selection of “Game On” by Tom Farrey as the inaugural winner of what is now an annual Institute award. Jack Ridl is widely acclaimed as America’s foremost “Sports Poet,” and “Losing Season” has drawn praise from a variety of quarters. Recently, Garrison Keillor featured poems from “Losing Season” in two different segments of “The Writer’s Almanac”. Published in September by CavanKerry Press, “Losing Season” follows a fictional small-town high school team and its community in an experience lived out annually for decades across the country. Capturing the perspective of a mix of participants-coach, players, family, fans-and chronicling highs and lows along the way, the individual poems together create a composite view of a year of hope and defeat both on and off the basketball court. “I’ve never seen a poetry book as focused as this one, as though a smart documentary filmmaker had hung around the gym all season filming until we can see and feel every hole and knot in the sad fabric of that failed year,” said renowned poet Conrad Hillberry. “These poems are so compelling, so varied, so familiar here that they may well introduce a new genre. The volume is unmatched, I believe, anywhere in American poetry.” Divided into four quarters, like a game itself, “Losing Season” traces a cycle of hope and disappointment as lived by the high school team. From the “First Cut” to the “Last Game,” the season unfolds with forced confidence quickly tempered by resignation. Ridl’s writing is informed by his perspective of growing up as the son of a basketball coach. In 2007, he was named one of the 100 Most Influential Sports Educators in America, recognized as a sports poet by the Institute for International Sport. Dan Doyle, Founder and Executive Director of the Institute for International Sport, stated, “Jack Ridl’s collection of poems in “Losing Season” is quite likely the finest single collection of sports poetry ever written. It is a privilege to recognize this extraordinary work, for it perfectly fulfills our objective of honoring a book that has a profound impact on sport as a vehicle to educate.” For further information on Ridl and “Losing Season,” visit www.ridl.com. For further information on the Institute for International Sport, visit www.internationalsport.com. |
Ever find yourself seated in the fluorescent purgatory of a doctor’s waiting room, wishing that you could find something to pass the time, but there are only three identical copies of Yacht Aficionado and a medical equipment catalog? If you’re lucky, there is a decade-old issue of this illustrious magazine with Stone Cold Steve Austin on the cover, but don’t hold your breath.