The gentle voice of indigenous poet Kimberly Blaeser filled the room of the Wick Poetry Corner in Kent State University’s Library on Wednesday, March 6. Jessica Jones, associate lecturer of English at Kent State University at Stark, led a Q&A session touching on Blaeser’s new poetry collection, initiatives and inspiration.
Blaeser is an Anishinaabe activist who uses poetry as an outlet and to raise awareness for Native American tribes. She is also the founder of In-Na-Po, Indigenous Nations Poets. Subjects like climate change and “language back” are a part of her new poetry collection, which was showcased during the Q&A session.
Anishinaabe is used to describe native people from the Great Lakes area. Living in a home off Boundary Waters Canoe Area that is only accessible by water, Blaeser spends most of her time with nature. She wants to change the conversation from “land back,” a global campaign that promotes the return of communal land ownership and unceded land to “language back,” an initiative promoting bringing indigenous language back, evident in her poetry.
“Alphabetical is only one type of language,” Blaeser answered. “There is a language of ‘nibi,’ of water, the language of light, and if you pay attention, there are so many things you can learn.”
The “language back” conversation comes from the environment, which is an important part of Blaeser’s culture and morning routine: canoeing, taking pictures and eating breakfast on the water.
“It is always interesting to break open some of the ideas in the poems,” Blaeser said. “Not everyone is a poet, so to have a chance to talk about what the poems are attempting to do, how they do that by maybe looking at the craft.”
The appeal of a Q&A session at Kent State for Blaeser was to discover the guests' interests and have an open conversation about her own interests as well.
“I want to know what resonates with them, and I like to see what people are interested in,” Blaeser said. “I’m always interested in getting something back as well as sharing my ideas.”
Some of the Q&A consisted of questions about Blaeser’s work, but the focus was on her inspirations and the origins of ideas.
Answering a question during the session, Blaeser said, “It’s hard to recognize the origin of the story because it doesn’t originate with you always. Even if it’s something of your creation, something had a spark.”
In other words, anything can be an inspiration, and a single spark can turn into something great.
David Hassler, the Bob and Walt Wick executive director of the Wick Poetry Center, and Blaeser connected through the poetry coalition.
“I was always instantly drawn to the light and the positive energy that Kimberly brings to her writing and her presence,” Hassler said.
The intimate group allowed attendees to hear and interact with Blaeser and Jones, some even getting the opportunity to ask some of their own questions about the “Language Back” initiative that Blaeser discussed.
Uniquely, one guest had an open dialogue with Blaeser about how language is used differently, and they talked about some exercises she had performed in the classroom.
Coming up for the Wick Poetry Center on April 10, the Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize reading will feature Cornelius Eady and Arlene Keizer and will take place in Oscar Ritchie Hall.