Dahlstrom celebrates poetry through the work of Billy Collins

At yesterday's installment of Literary Lunches, retired Grand Forks Central English teacher Carol Dahlstrom read poetry by former United States Poet Laureate Billy Collins, who instituted the Poetry 180 Project at the Library of Congress.

Dahlstrom explained that she choose to read poetry because, as a teacher, she found poetry challenging to teach because students had a hard time understanding ir. She read Collins' work (Nostalgia; You, Reader; Genius and The Names) because his work is accessible and also because he is reading at Moorhead State University, Moorhead September 23, 2010. The Names was commissioned by the United States Congress to commemorate 9/11. Collins has stated he will never publish the poem in a collection nor read it aloud again. (He read it to Congress September 6, 2002)

Dahlstrom shared the following advice to students writing poems or compositions: "Write about something everyday...it doesn't have to be momentous."

Today's reader is Brady Mallory of WDAZ News.