Wilkinson Library: Where Poetry Meets the Divine

20 Apr Wilkinson Library: Where Poetry Meets the Divine

Let’s talk about something besides weather. Let’s talk about life, the miraculous body, the wonders of the heart, the agony of loss. And what is spirit? And what is love? And what are we here for, anyway?

Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Word Woman

That’s right. Let’s talk about all the things you’re yearning to talk about, but you’re not sure how to bring them up. Join local poet and scholar Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, the Word Woman, for this three-part series on the Sufi poets Hafiz, Rabia, and Rumi.

The workshops will take place three consecutive Thursdays, May 1, 8, and 15 at 6:00 pm at the Wilkinson Public Library. They are free and open to everyone. The last workshop will feature Middle Eastern food and music and a celebration of the mystic poets and the Muslim Journeys series, of which this series is a part.

Wilkinson Public Library was one of just 125 libraries and humanities councils in the US to receive an American Library Association/National Endowment for the Humanities grant to present Muslim Journeys, a scholar-led reading and discussion program designed to foster opportunities for community conversations about the histories, faith and cultures of Muslims around the world and within the United States. WPL’s program began in January.

Sufi poet known as “Rumi”

The program is centered around five books with the theme Connected Histories. Centuries before the dawn of the modern age, the world was already a surprisingly interconnected place. Readings for this theme introduce a way of understanding the past in which Islam and the West are seen as products of a shared, cosmopolitan, and inextricably intertwined past. The books help envision the world of our ancestors, which was as complex and dynamically interconnected as the world we live in today.  In addition to the monthly book discussions, led by scholars Lawry de Bivort and Shoshanna Brower, the program includes Islamic themed films, Sufi poetry workshops, and of course, delicious Middle Eastern food.  Anyone interested can participate in as much or a little as suits their interests and schedule.  Copies of the books in the series, all available now at WPL, are free-of-charge and participants can keep them.