This is the fifth spring semester poetry edition of Liberal Arts Voices featuring this year’s Penn State Laureate, poet and Professor of English and Womens’ Studies, Robin Becker. Throughout the spring, Liberal Arts Voices will be collaborating with Penn State Live to cover the poems and work of Professor Becker.
In this podcast Professor Becker joins Dean Long; English major Natalie Kovak; and English graduate students Leah Huizar and William Woolfit to discuss Professor Becker’s poem “Island of Daily Life.” You can read the full version of “Island of Daily Life” on Penn State Live.
Professor Becker begins the podcast by explaining how she attempted to celebrate daily life in this poem by using imagery that would evoke the senses and reflect the atmosphere of a rural setting in the summer. The group discusses the playful imagery used in the poem. They talk about how the format and layout of the poem further emphasize its rhythmic nature. Lastly, the group reflects on themes of isolation and community that coexist in the poem.
We invite you to respond to this poem or to the question that Professor Becker asks at the conclusion of her poem: What special practices or rituals characterize summer for you? How might you write a celebration of those pleasures?
Liberal Arts Voices: Robin Becker’s “Island of Daily Life”
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To watch a video of Professor Becker reading this poem or to read the actual poem, visit Penn State Live.
We encourage all of our listeners to write to us with comments, questions, or suggestions at laus@la.psu.edu. We may even respond to these comments on the next episode of Liberal Arts Voices.