International Poetry Forum

The International Poetry Forum (IPF) was founded in 1966 by Samuel John Hazo.[1] From 1966 until 2009, the IPF hosted poetry readings by over 800 poets and performers at the Carnegie Lecture Hall, Heinz Hall, and other public venues in Pittsburgh, PA.[2] Hazo explains that the goal of the Forum was to create a space where “poetry could speak for itself in a public setting.”[3]

History

Archibald MacLeish gave the inaugural reading at the International Poetry Forum on October 19, 1966.[4] The first year of IPF performances included readings by figures like Richard Wilbur, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Robert Lowell, May Swenson, John Crowe Ransom, Donald Justice, Mark Van Doren, and Anne Sexton.[3][5]

Other poets to perform at the IPF included Jorge Luis Borges, Derek Walcott, Seamus Heaney, Czesław Miłosz, Octavio Paz, W.H. Auden, Robert Penn Warren, Gwendolyn Brooks, Elizabeth Bishop, Adonis, Donald Hall, John Berryman, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, James Merrill, Mary Karr, Dana Gioia, Jan Beatty, and Joyce Carol Oates.[1][3][6]

Participating actors included Anthony Hopkins, Gregory Peck, Danny Glover, and James Earl Jones.[1][3][7] The IPF also featured playwrights like Edward Albee and Tennessee Williams, novelists like Chinua Achebe, Saul Bellow, and Kurt Vonnegut, and public figures such as Queen Noor of Jordan and Princess Grace of Monaco.[1][3][8]

As a non-profit organization,[9] the IPF subsisted on foundation grants and individual support. Citing Hazo's retirement and a scarcity of grant and foundation funding during the 2007-2008 financial crisis, the IPF paused its poetry readings in 2009.[10] During its run, the IPF hosted its own press, Byblos Editions, and funded initiatives like the Poets-in-Person outreach program, which sent authors to speak at schools across Western Pennsylvania.[11] The IPF also presented a series of “road shows” at venues like the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.[12][13]

Legacy

In 1990, the International Poetry Forum was awarded the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal by the Smithsonian Institution for its contributions to the arts.[14]

Samuel Hazo, the IPF founder and director, was named Pennsylvania’s first Poet Laureate in 1993, a position he served for ten years.[15][16] For his work directing the IPF, Hazo received the Griffin Award and an honorary doctorate from the University of Notre Dame,[17] the Hazlett Award for Excellence in Literature from the Pennsylvania Governor, and the Forbes Medal for Outstanding Cultural Contributions to Western Pennsylvania.[18][19][20]

In 2001, Hazo donated the IPF archives to Carlow University.[21] Recordings for the 1966-2009 sessions have since been digitized and made available through the International Poetry Forum Collection at Carlow’s Grace Library.[1]

In 2022, the Carlow University Art Gallery opened an exhibition entitled “To Hear it With Our Eyes: Activist Voices in the International Poetry Forum (1966-1974),” which explored the writing and activism of IPF participants like Derek Walcott, Adonis, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Kurt Vonnegut.[22][23]

In January 2023, Carlow University presented “The Power of Poetry: Celebrating the Legacy of the International Poetry Forum,” a public event featuring poetry readings by Samuel Hazo, Naomi Shihab Nye, Richard Blanco, and Tracy K. Smith.[24][25]

References
  1. "International Poetry Forum Collection". Digital Collections at Carlow University.
  2. "Sam Hazo, Pittsburgh's International Giant of Catholic Poetry". NCR. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  3. "International Poetry Forum | Samuel John Hazo". Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  4. "IPF Recording October 19, 1966: Archibald MacLeish". Digital Collections at Carlow University.
  5. "International Poetry Forum Collection". Digital Collections at Carlow University.
  6. International Poetry Forum Poets, retrieved 2023-01-18
  7. International Poetry Forum Actors, retrieved 2023-01-18
  8. "A Princess on the Bluff". Pittsburgh Quarterly. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  9. "INTERNATIONAL POETRY FORUM". ProPublica.
  10. "Pittsburgh's Poetry Forum to Close". Poets & Writers. 2009-02-18. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  11. "Poetry Forum utters its final verse". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  12. Lembo, Elaine (1984-10-07). "Mixing the Mediums". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  13. Strickl, Rhonda. "Look at What They're Doing With Poetry". The Washington Post.
  14. "The James Smithson Bicentennial Medal". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  15. Armenti, Peter. "Research Guides: U.S. State Poets Laureate: A Resource Guide: New Mexico-South Carolina". guides.loc.gov. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  16. "It's official: Every poet is a state poet". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  17. "The Griffin Award for Achievements in Writing - NDAA". myNotreDame. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  18. "Biography | Samuel John Hazo". Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  19. "Hazo, Samuel (John) | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  20. Foundation, Poetry (2023-01-18). "Samuel Hazo". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  21. "Poetry Forum's records find home at Carlow". old.post-gazette.com. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  22. "To Hear It With Our Eyes Exhibition - IPF Poet Videos". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  23. Chronicle, The Carlow (2022-10-29). "The International Poetry Forum- From Grant to Gallery". carlowchronicle.com. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  24. "The Power of Poetry". Carlow University. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
  25. culturedesk. "'Poetry is universal': Carlow Event honors Samuel Hazo, the International Poetry Forum - The Pitt News". pittnews.com. Retrieved 2023-01-18.
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