Now That's What I Call Poetry! Vol. 2

For National Poetry Month, we're spotlighting Oregon's Poet Laureates. This week, we're listening to our story as told by poets between 1975 and 2010.

For more information about the Poet Laureate program, visit the Library of Congress or the Oregon Cultural Trust. Poetry by all featured poets can be found in From Here We Speak: An Anthology of Oregon Poetry, available at the Library.

William Stafford, 1975 - 1990

William Stafford is a poet of quiet power. He registered as a conscientious objector during WWII and was interned in labor camps for the Civilian Public Service. His memoir Down in My Heart records his experiences in the labor camps and the reasons behind his choice not to fight. The realism and confessional style of his poetry is perhaps best illustrated by the poem featured in the video below, "Traveling Through the Dark." Stafford passed away in 1993.

More About William Stafford

• William Stafford at The Oregon Encyclopedia
• Poems by William Stafford at The Poetry Foundation
• Poems about William Stafford: "In Praise of William Stafford" by Edwin Frank Ochester
• Stafford Studies at the William Stafford Archive
• Books by William Stafford at TVCC Library

Lawson Fusao Inada, 2006-2010

Lawson Fusao Inada is a sansei (third-generation Japanese-American) who was interned with his family during WWII. His poetry critiques war and America's internment of Japanese-Americans while also celebrating the little moments that make life beautiful. Inada visited TVCC in 2015 to conduct a poetry writing workshop and perform a reading accompanied by Dr. Joseph Jefferson and the TVCC Jazz Band.

More About Lawson Fusao Inada

• Lawson Fusao Inada at The Oregon Encyclopedia
• Poems by Lawson Fusao Inada at The Poetry Foundation

Read the rest of the series!

• Now That's What I Call Poetry! Vol. 1
• Now That's What I Call Poetry! Vol. 3
• Now That's What I Call Poetry! Vol. 4