Q and A: Ilya Kaminsky

Ilya Kaminsky was born in Odessa, in the former Soviet Union, and came to this country in 1993. Currently, he is George Bennett Fellow Writer in Residence at Phillips Exeter Academy. His first full-length book, Dancing in Odessa (see review), was a finalist for the National Poetry Series, the Walt Whitman Award, and the Yale Younger Poets series. He is also an LJ reviewer.

What recommendations do you have for librarians who want to promote poetry in their libraries?

Imagine this: gathered at a small kitchen table, engineers and businessmen argue about poetry late into the night (or is it already early morning?). In Odessa, the city of my childhood, such gatherings were more than common—they were popular! Few wrote poetry, yet somehow everyone talked about it: accountants, businessmen, janitors, thieves. American colleagues tell me that such appreciation for poetry does not exist in the United States. I humbly disagree. My American high school friends and college classmates, as well as my former students, often email with complaints about the lack of poetry communities in their cities and towns—they nostalgically recall the campus poetry clubs and the school's literary magazines. Those who write poetry themselves often enroll in MFA programs to return to that atmosphere of literary gathering, but those who only like to read poetry (but do not write it) find themselves in isolation.

Can libraries foster that atmosphere?

Public libraries already do so much to promote poets—contests, features, open mikes, publicity posters, workshops—but what about promoting and cultivating that rarest of the species: the readers of poetry? I have lived throughout the country and have noticed a deficit of poetry reading groups—they exist but are few and far between. Although I cannot guarantee huge crowds, I am sure that announcing the availability of space for this purpose in public libraries will be greatly appreciated by many patrons. If you would like to start a poetry reading group in your library, Poets for Peace, a nonprofit organization, will gladly provide reading guides as well as sample poems. For more information email poets4peace@yahoo.com.