Literary Spotlight with Sue Burge. On Hiram Larew: A voice in the darkness

Literary Spotlight on Hiram Larew: A voice in the darkness

For this final issue of WordCity Literary Journal I’m delighted to be pinning down the powerhouse activist, writer and academic Hiram Larew.  Hiram is actively engaged with what is happening in the world and his writing and writing projects reflect that.  He has an uncanny ability to draw people in to the issues he is concerned about in a kind, non-judgemental way that is much more effective than the endless political ranting we have become accustomed to!

 

Welcome to WordCity Hiram! So, what first drew you into the writing world? Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?  And what particularly draws you to poetry? Did your chosen career reflect your interest in writing or nourish it in any way?

 

I’ve always enjoyed working with plants.  And as I think back, it seems that in their silent way, plants drew me into poetry.  As a kid, my eyes were always amazed at what green could do.  Some of my first poems were about the mystery of trees and vines — and how I loved them.  From there, I began to ramble through poems that held secrets, poems that were confused with adolescence, first love poems and the like.  Said slightly differently, one of my very best friends while I was sprouting was poetry.   And, during my working years in the natural sciences, poetry was a steadfast companion — both a balm and spark.  To this day, surprise in poetry delights me.

As a writer, what/who are your greatest influences, your muses? 

 

Muses change with time.  At lease, mine have.  I can recall, for example, that in my 20’s and 30’s, my muses were centered on people.  What was he or she thinking?  Why did they act that way?  When would they arrive?  More and more, my muses are now focused on history, nature and gratitude, or as I say, time, mud and savor.  And yes, questions are still important, of course.  But now, they tend to be the open-ended, unanswered ones that are wrapped up in Maybes, What-Ifs, and Well, Okays.  And, in terms of poets who steadfastly inspire me, I look to those who your readers, I imagine, also admire — e.e.cummings, Emily Dickinson, Dylan Thomas, James Weldon Johnson, Walt Whitman.  They amaze me with their inventiveness, and give us all permission to experiment.

What advice would you give poets who are starting out in the world?  Did anyone help/mentor you in a memorable way when you were starting out? 

 

There isn’t a map or formula.  There’s simply you.  And so, a mentor should encourage your intent, your bravery and your instinct.  And you should trust yourself as you write.  And of course, that trust includes writing the strongest, longest-lasting lines that are in you.   What do you want readers decades or centuries from now to hear and learn from you?

Really wise words, thank you. You have undertaken so many interesting projects during your writing life.  Could you, firstly, tell us about Voices of Woodlawn and how this residency and project idea came about.

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Sure.   See a performance of Voices of Woodlawn here – What is ClickUp? VA (youtube.com)

I was offered a writing residency at Woodlawn, an historic plantation in Virginia (USA).  While I originally planned to spend the residency wandering the grounds and writing about ivy and fountains, it turns out that Woodlawn’s history had other plans.  Realizing that the plantation had, in its hey-day, been lived in by 9 whites who were served by 90 stories-untold slaves, I pivoted my residency.  I invited some African-American friends and poets to join me and to journal their reactions to Woodlawn’s history.  The resulting poetry, artwork and music – all centered on America’s history of slavery at historic plantations — became Voices of Woodlawn, a program that has aired widely and has been received with what I call a reckoning admiration by many, many folk.  It’s important to note, I think, that one of the poets who I invited to join me at Woodlawn said that she simply couldn’t participate for the pain that Woodlawn’s story caused her.  That’s a clear indication of slavery’s legacy.  Indeed, Voices of Woodlawn is about how such history shapes our current days.

Such important work here, Hiram, this is history that must never be sidelined. You are also the founder of Poetry X Hunger.  What particularly drew you to want to highlight the injustice of hunger poverty and why do you think poetry is a good vehicle for raising awareness?  What strategies do you use to raise awareness?

Before Poetry X Hunger, there was a gap between hunger and poetry.  I launched the initiative to bridge that gap.  Why?  Because if we aren’t using poetry and the other arts in the fight against hunger, we aren’t on game.  I’ve seen it over and over again – a poet begins to present their powerful Poetry X Hunger poem and suddenly the gathering – on zoom or in-person – goes silent with awe.  Why?  Because poems grab.  They interrupt.  They haunt.  We need that kind of stop-what-you’re-doing-and-pay-attention tool in the hunger-fighting toolkit.

So, today we have more than 400 poems by poets from around the world published on the Poetry X Hunger website (https://www.PoetryXHunger.com). And, hint, hint — we’re always looking for more.  We’re also putting the poems to work.  For example, they’ve been used to raise awareness about hunger in places like pubs, houses of worship, and everywhere in between.  They’ve also helped us raise funds (more than 20,000 USD) for anti-hunger groups.  And they’ve raised roofs.  How so?  Well, here’s what I mean — Join the 125,000 + who have watched this amazing 1-minute video produced by Feed the Children that is based upon a Poetry X Hunger poem —  If Words Were Enough (tellyawards.com)

What’s coming up for Poetry X Hunger?  We want to use the poems on the website to encourage members of the US public to use their letters, calls and even votes to support anti-hunger causes.  We’ve also “matured” the initiative.  It’s now a non-profit that can both accept donations and distribute grants to anti-hunger organizations that use poetry in programs.  See here — Poetry X Hunger | Chesapeake Charities

 

Actually, just reading about Poetry X Hunger gives me a lump in my throat – it’s such a powerful initiative…What are you working on at the moment, Hiram? 

I’m herding some of my own poems into a manuscript that, I hope, will become my seventh collection that is tentatively titled, “This Much Very.”

I’m full of admiration that you have managed to produce six previous poetry collections given your busy life. We would love to hear one of your poems, could you select one which you are particularly fond of and perhaps tell us a little about it and allow us to read it?

Thanks.  Here’s one that, for its mention of the moon, appeared in the 2023 Lunar Calendar produced by Luna Press (Luna Press: Home (thelunapress.com).  It also showed up in my latest collection, “Patchy Ways” (2023, CyberWit Press).  Here’s an audio recording of me reading the poem — Stream Clusters by Hiram Larew | Listen online for free on SoundCloud

Clusters

When I was fifteen

I learned to visit the moon

with a backpack of wonder

My paint was stars —

such sights were my clusters

And travel came folded in blankets

Yes when I was fifteen

I wandered the moon’s surface like silver

and learned before ever learning

anything else

How bold something silent

or off to itself

could be

Thank you so much for sharing your world view and your words with us Hiram, it’s been an absolute pleasure.

Larew’s sixth collection of poems, Patchy Ways was released from CyberWit Press in  2023.   His poems have received the Louisiana Literature Prize, the washington review poetry blue ribbon and have been nominated for four Pushcarts.  His work appears widely including in recent issues of Poetry South, The Brown Critique, San Antonio Review, Contemporary American Voices, Honest Ulsterman, Iowa Review, Amsterdam Quarterly and Best Poetry Online.  Recipient of grants from state and county Arts Councils as well as the United Nations for his Poetry X Hunger initiative which uses powerful poetry by poets worldwide to alleviate hunger, Larew is also the founder of Voices of Woodlawn, a powerful program of poetry, music and art that explores America’s tragic history of plantation-based slavery.

He assists Baltimore (MD) WBJC Classical Radio (91.5 FM) to identify poets for featuring on the widely broadcast Booknotes program and is a Board Member of The InkWELL

Dr. Larew is a Courtesy Faculty at five U. S. universities.  He lives in Maryland, USA.

When I speak twig

above me

the sounds are unimaginable

Each swollen bud laces its shoes

and those earwigs their pinches

squeak out to my growing

gold day

They grab my damp heart in-waiting…

• From In-Waiting

www.HiramLarewPoetry.com

Hiram Larew | Maryland State Arts Council (msac.org)

Hiram Larew | Poets & Writers (pw.org)

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