![]() ![]() Yet, just to be clear, Carolyn Forché does not write political poetry. She creates her art as an act of engagement with the wounds of the world around her. “Art for art’s sake is something that would be cruel, if it won’t fortunately so ridiculous.”įorché never writes art for art’s sake. who wrote the following to a friend just before he was abducted and executed in 1936 by fascist troops under the command of General Francisco Franco: In her famous anthology, Against Forgetting, Forché quotes the Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca. If by chance you don’t know Forché’s work, allow me to introduce you-as she is exactly the right poet to talk about on a social justice news site.Ĭarolyn Forché writes what she describes as the “poetry of witness.” It was risky of the Forum’s organizer, my wonderful friend, the gifted poet Gail Wronsky, to assign a non-poet-namely me- to introduce Forché.īut internationally known poet, translator, anthologist and human rights activist Carolyn Forché is one of my heroes, so I said yes right away when Gail asked me-risk or no risk. On Thursday night I was deliriously happy to have the opportunity to give a small speech introducing the poet Carolyn Forché, who was the keynote speaker for the week long celebration of art, literature and social justice at Loyola Marymount University called the Bellarmine Forum. In the next three days, I’ll be putting up voting recommendations and endorsements, but-for now-a social justice and literature break. ![]()
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