April is National Poetry Month, and to celebrate, students have the option to receive bi-weekly, illustrated poems right to their email inbox. While many librarians are involved in exciting initiatives in Tutt, Mimi Wheatwind is spearheading the poetry celebration. When asked about her interest in poetry, Wheatwind referred to the quotes sent out in the Student Listserv: “Poetry is an act of peace,” as said by Pablo Neruda, and “Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful,” said Rita Dove.
Sending out bi-weekly poems for the month of April has been an initiative of Tutt since 2013. Wheatwind decided to start the practice at Colorado College after having done the same at other libraries including Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo., and Reed College in Portland, Ore.
In year five of the initiative, Wheatwind is receiving a lot of positive feedback. “Everyone is very on board, it’s been neat,” she commented. She went on to explain how in interactions all over campus, people she has never met before will tell her they recognize her name from the poetry emails. She said it is a very gratifying moment for people to notice her work in the celebration of poetry and say how much they enjoy it.
Overall, people are very excited to receive the poems and sign up year after year. Many often sign up after receiving other library listservs. This month, the theme has been quotes to celebrate National Women’s History Month. The library has received many emails in response, commenting on how uplifting this program has been. Many of the email recipients save these quotes or poems for personal pleasure or future use as well.
Wheatwind has a very personal, inspiring relationship with poetry. She has been involved with the poetry world for a number of years. She became involved in the California branch of the Poets in the Schools program which, according to their website, helps students “express their creativity, imagination, and curiosity through poetry.” In the 1980s, Wheatwind was put in charge of the program in the Santa Barbara region before springboarding to graduate school to eventually work full-time at the schools. The program offered her the confidence she needed to make it through graduate school, as she was the first in her family to even go to college.
According to Wheatwind, the California Poets in the Schools program is successful because “poetry is a non-threatening way to get students to write.” It is an easy way to get to know the students, and it serves as an icebreaker—a tactic she uses in her teaching lessons. Wheatwind teaches figurative language exercises in prose form; students are able to open up and write because they can simply describe an image instead of try their hand at the daunting task of writing an essay.
Wheatwind continued to find courage through poetry later in life when her father passed away from cancer. The night he passed, she read him “Let Evening Come” by Jane Kenyon. The poem has held a special place in her heart ever since. Upon asking what Wheatwind’s favorite poem or poet was, she said it was hard to have just one.
In addition to the poem by Kenyon, Wheatwind enjoys the work of Latina poets. As a female and half-Mexican, she recalls people laughing at her as a child when she said she wanted to be a writer. For a while, she felt unsure of herself as she never really learned about many female poets. It was not until she entered college in the 1970s, coinciding with the second wave of the feminist movement, that she learned about published female poets. During her time working with the California Poets in the Schools program, she made sure to look at the demographic of the class and bring in poets from these student’s backgrounds. Much like her own experience, this was often the students’ first exposure to poets of their nationality. However, the poems also spoke to everyone in the class as they were often on issues of identity in general. Identifying with the works gave many students the courage to publish their own works in local and state anthologies. Wheatwind was able to see poetry diversify in textbooks and now these students can contribute to that too.
Wheatwind recognizes the different types of poetry and sees it as an important medium for channeling grief, anger, or self pity. “It is a beautiful place to play with words and to try and express yourself,” she said, but the ones she tries to share with the CC community are more heartening. It is very nice to receive “something uplifting, short and sweet, with colorful illustrations—the poem comes as a nice colorful surprise,” said Wheatwind. She mentioned this is especially true for people sitting on computers or in an office all day.
One day, Wheatwind would like to get all of her poetry together and publish it. “I feel pretty passionately about poetry,” she said on the topic. “No matter what my job has been, poetry is something that has stayed with me throughout jobs.”
Her passion is a theme typical of the library: “All the librarians I work with do really amazing things with the students,” she added. In addition to the bi-weekly emails, Marianne Aldrich is leading the annual haiku contest in late April to add to the celebration. Finally, the last Thursday of April is “Poem in your Pocket” day, where postcards of poems will be handed out by the library with the intention of being carried by people throughout the day.