The Language of Life: A Festival of Poets

by Bill Moyers

"Poets live the lives all of us live," says Bill Moyers, "with one big difference. They have the power--the power of the word--to create a world of thoughts and emotions other can share. We only have to learn to listen."



In a series of fascinating conversations with thirty-four American poets, The Language Of Life celebrates language in its "most exalted, wrenching, delighted, and concentrated form," and its unique power to re-create the human falling in love, facing death, leaving home, playing basketball, losing faith, finding God. Listening to Linda McCarriston's award-winning poems about a child trapped in a violent home, or to Jimmy Santiago Baca explaining how words changed his life in prison, or to David Mura describing his Japanese American grandfather's experience in relocation camps, or to Sekou Sundiata stitching the magic of his childhood church in Harlem to the African tradition of storytelling, or to Gary Snyder invoking the natural wonder of mountains and rivers, or to Adrienne Rich calling for honesty in human relations, all testify to the necessity and clarity of the poet's voice, and all give hope that from such a wide variety of racial, ethnic, and religious threads we might yet weave a new American fabric.



"'Listen,' said the storytellers of old, 'listen and you shall hear ,'" explains Bill Moyers. The Language Of Life is a joyous, life-affirming invitation to listen, learn, and experience the exhilarating power of the spoken word.

Genres: Poetry, Nonfiction, Anthologies, Philosophy, Cultural, Reference, Literature

480 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Billy Don Moyers was an American journalist and political commentator who served as the eleventh White House Press Secretary from 1965 to 1967. He was a director of the Council on Foreign Relations from 1967 to 1974. He was also a onetime steering committee member of the annual Bilderberg Meeting. Moyers also worked as a network TV news commentator for ten years. Moyers was extensively involved with public broadcasting, producing documentaries and news journal programs, and won many awards and honorary degrees for his investigative journalism and civic activities. He was well known as a trenchant critic of the corporately structured U.S. news media.

Reviews

[Erin Carere · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the time, I was entering into the nurturing world of the Open Mic. Thank god for Kieran's, and that jazz club in Saint Paul called the Artist Quarter, and people like Lenore and Chris Shillock and, later, Michael Quinn. Or else I'd be a mermaid in Lake Superior = my selkie self = not quite alive.

Okay, I will now dispense with my dramatic autobiography and tell you some of the reasons why this book deserves five stars:
1. Modern living poets
2. Bill Moyers interviews them
3. Samples of their poetry and the stories surrounding them
4. The craft of poetry
5. The love of words

All in one big beautiful book

A great introduction to poetry for those wanting to explore

and

A great enhancement to modern poets for those wanting to enrich.

And! it introduced me to a new poets I hadn't known of, but now am thankful that I do!!!

[Margie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve owned this book for almost 30 years, and have read it off and on, here and there, for years, often re-reading the interviews with my favorite poets (Jane Kenyon, for one), as well as some favorite poems I have tagged. This year I decided to methodically read it cover to cover to ensure I had actually read it all.

Somehow, educationally, I missed out on poetry, and stumbled across the PBS show that was the basis for this book, turning on the TV right at the moment of either Jane Kenyon’s or Donald Hall’s interview. So they were the starting point for me from which I have slowly built a library and a little knowledge. I recommend this book for anyone seeking to learn more about contemporary American poets, as well as the drive of the poet to write.

[Zeynep Şen · Rating 4 out of 5]

We are so used to thinking of poetry as an academic, hard to understand branch that's only for those highly sophisticated minds. This book was a good reminder that this is not true in the slightest. Bill Moyers takes care to conduct each interview with poets as uniquely different from one another as possible. Yet each interview manages to prove that poetry is not only the "detached from life, only for the academics" entity that we've made out to be but it is in fact a bridge between people. Prom dealing with manic depression, to understanding one's identity as someone of mixed cultures, from grappling with one's faith to coping with domestic abuse, poetry springs forth from many human wells as an expression of understanding, communication and love. Moyers' intelligent questions allows these various poets to explore this form of expression in very personal ways that are sure to resonate with readers of all backgrounds and tastes, thus proving that this art form really is a language of life.

[Miroku Nemeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent anthology not just for the selections of poetry but the insights it offers into the diverse lives and histories of the poets.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interviews and insights into the real life of poets of all kinds. Many are multicultural. Some of my favorites. fabulous book to pair the poetry with the author. Bill Moyers has wonderful insight into questions I would love to hear answered. I would love to have conversations with many of these artists. A huge book that I would get lost in and have to go out and walk to come back into the world. Highly recommended. (This is an older book but a goodie!)

[Bonnie Brandt · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who has not read a lot of poetry, I decided to read this book because it had a large number poets and interviews with the poets themselves. I enjoyed that there was such a range of types of poetry. All the poets though, are contemporary American poets. This was a very good first book of poetry to read.

[Pachyderm Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hardcover print rendering from some previous annual Dodge Poetry Festival. In the 90's, this broadcast series premiered on PBS and its affiliates. Especially touching at the time of broadcast was the segment with Jimmy Santiago Baca, who taught himself to read while doing time in prison, eventually to become a farmer.

[Brenda Damen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book to introduce anyone to poetry. The poems, interviews with the poets, and candid photographs during the festival couldn't be more comfortable. The subject matter, however, is harrowing at times. Bill Moyers is the best kind of interviewer - he asks the hard questions but he does so with kind-heartedness.

[Beenish Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Every interview is worth reading, and Bill Moyers asks thoughtful questions. Recommended reading for anyone trying to understand the connection between poetry and language : Why poetry is better than prose?

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent anthology of interviews of poets and their poems. Moyers did a good job of interviewing the poets in how they practice their craft.

[Tina Iyama-Kurtycz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interviews by Bill Moyers with dozens of American poets, many of whom I had never read. Fun to add names of poets I'd like to read.

[Victoria & David Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

The PBS series is wonderful too.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this a lot.

[Wayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pre-Review:

I've always been a poetry fan.
Nursery Rhymes and song lyrics come unbidden when we are babes.
We are soon reciting or singing along.
My older sister reading poetry to her grandson
found a distinct alteration in his behaviour when she went from prose to poetry.
It's rhythm really caught his attention in eyes, expression and gesture.

When we were teenagers she had received a Complete Works of Tennyson for Xmas
and we took it with us to the beach that Summer to read,
loving the stories,the topics, the rhythm,the beauty of his words.
"The Lady of Shalott" was to be an enduring favourite.
Later we were to discover the Victorian artists who had done justice to these poems.
We'd lie on the beach taking turns reading to each other.
Our dear Mum sat by, astounded.
But poetry had come into our ownership and by itself,
with no poor teacher or school getting in the way.

So often I see the products of Poor Teaching,
where children come out hating authors along with their novels and/or poetry.
"I hate Jane Austen!!" one student teacher blurted out passionately
when she saw me reading one of JA's witty social satires.
Sometimes reflection sends them back to a book as adults
and they become passionate about the book they once fiercely rejected.
I expected to see this phenomenon on Goodreads when I went to review "The Scarlett Letter".
Yes, there were the hating present day students and there were the adults discovering a wonderful book years later, but under their own steam, not under a teacher's orders, a teacher who couldn't teach appreciation because they too hated the novel.

At school I really enjoyed teaching and analysing poetry.
Often I would write a poem for the class based on our current topic.
The kids LOVED it and brought favourite poems to share or ones they had written.
We ransacked the school library.
Getting them to dip into a poetry anthology to find a poem to share with the class
was a Great Way of exposing them to a wide range of poetry and getting them to express
why they liked a poem or preferred one to another.
Often they would pick out a poem they could not really understand,
ones that I myself had also enjoyed in Primary school or my older sister brought home
but hadn't really the faintest idea what was going on sometimes.
William Blake's "Tiger,tiger, burning bright,in the forests of the night"
and the Witches' chanting their spell from Shakespeare's "Macbeth" was another.
We talked about really liking something we didn't really understand.
I didn't bother if they plagerised words, phrases or lines when composing.
Fancy plagerising Shakespeare when you were only eight years old!!!!
Often I would get them to respond to a book,a poem,a maths problem, an historical incident etc.
with a Cinquain, Rhyming Couplet, Limerick, Haiku etc
these being poetic forms I'd allow them to discover
and attempt to compose with themselves.


I found inadvertently at one stage in my life that poetry helped me deal with personal problems.
But then it always had...through the philosphies expressed.
But soon I realised that I couldn't find anyone who perfectly addressed my problems.
No alternative but to write them myself.
This wasn't a daunting decision.
They were for my eyes only.
I'd dabbled with writing poetry before but never with such purpose;
and I found I really enjoyed the whole process.
As with John Donne who liked to share his poetry with friends,
I sent copies to friends too. No need to publish it formally.
Fame had absolutely nothing to do with it.
It has never interested me. Privacy is a treasure.

So today when visiting the local bookshop to wish staff a Happy New Year,
and there on the Bargain Tables outside lay a thick, broad paperback
(you don't get to SEE a book when its an E-Book, do YOU !!?)
titled :Bill Moyers- this at the very top,
below which a carved apple with assorted plants growing in a window in its front;
and below bold scribed: THE LANGUAGE OF LIFE...a language book,I said,
having bought two thick beauties here recently.
But in smaller italic letters below lay the key:
A Festival of Poets. Without more ado I grabbed it up and swept into the store.
Chris praised Bill Moyers as an excellent journalist...so it was bought.

Since I got home I've browsed the Feast in store.
Oh, this is gonna be GOOD, Man !!!!!!
This is gunna be damned GOOD!!!

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who knew that poets are just people too? Bill Moyers does a superb job of cracking poetry's hard veneer to reveal mere mortals on the inside at the Dodge Poetry Festival. He welcomes us to think twice about what poetry can offer.

In the same fashion as Moyer's famed Power of Myth interview with Joseph Campbell, the thirty-four interviews in The Language of Life were originally viewed on PBS, then written into a companion book.

The writers discuss what poetry means to them personally and what they wish to impart by sharing their words this way. The tradition has far-reaching roots, intertwining with family histories, race and gender issues, politics near and far, philosophies as old as the hills, sacred landscapes and beloved bodies.

Each writer's life experiences (which are inspiring at best and emotionally wrenching at worst) affect their approach to poetry. The fact that each approach in this book is just slightly different from the next is what made me keep on reading the conversations. It is a fascinating collection of thoughts.

[Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful book for someone like myself who is a reader of, but not a writer of poetry. Moyers interviews a number of contemporary poets on the art and process of writing poetry. You are given a deeper sense of who these writers are, and each is represented by a half dozen or so of their poems.

I found myself with a deeper understanding of a number of poets whose work I already knew such as Donald Hall, Galway Kinnell, Gary Snyder, Stanley Kunitz, and Sharon Olds. Even better, I was able to identify a number of other poets whose work I wanted to explore, including Jane Kenyon, Naomi Shihab Nye, Lucille Clifton, David Mura, Robert Haas, and Jimmy Santiago Baca.

Each interview is 10 pages or so in length and so the book lends itself to dipping in and out of as time permits. A great pleasure.

[Keely Hyslop · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book for a class I ended up dropping and did not appreciate it in the slightest for many years. The book has a few poems, but is mostly comprised of interviews with poets. Being a book pack rat the book stayed on my shelf unopened, until I started taking an interest in how contemporary poets approach their poetry and what their influences are. This is a useful little book and can teach you more than a thing or two about poetics.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love poetry, this is a must for your bookshelf. I get it out sporadically just to reconnect with that world. Modern poets are not given the same respect of course as the dead poets, but he does an amazing job of interviewing them not only about their poetry, but about why they wrote what they wrote. EXCELLENT

[Stanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of the best compilations of poems and interviews I've ever read. It is so wonderful to read a poem and then get direct insight from the writer as to how they wrote it, why they wrote it and what really inspired them. It is a great teaching book for anyone who is trying to write poetry or any style of writing, music as well.

[Daina · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a poetry fan, this book is a must for you. It is one of the first poetry books - maybe even the very first - that I ever bought for myself. After seeing Moyers' PBS special, in which, I received my first introduction to Naomi Shihab Nye (thank you, Mr Moyers!), I knew I neded to own this book, and it has been cherished ever since.

[Donna Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moyers has a way of taking the intangable and bringing it out into the light. The interviews really made these living poets just regular everyday people. Knowing the poet helps to understand the poetry. Once you can truly identify with the poetry on more than a literal level it becomes meaningful and enjoyable. I admire Moyers' skill organizing such a project into this book.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the soundtrack to my life. I own several copies: hard copy, digital and audio. Quite honestly, I love this book. This book led me to the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival where I met, really MET and talked with some of the greatest poetic minds of our time. I am still in awe and quite awed.

[Stephanie G. Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my intro to Lucille Clifton so it will always be special to me.
As Rumi is a favorite and I favor Coleman Barks' translations that is a bonus.
The Geraldine R. Ford Poetry Festival is on my list of places to go.
An education in the diversity of the spoken word, and a reminder to READ POETRY OUT LOUD...especially to yourself.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

the master moyers.
excellent interviews with, and poems by, various poets at the big festival. great questions and wonderful insight into the minds and processes of some of the greatest contemporary poets out there.

[Jan Praxel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It is an anthology of poets edited by Bill Moyers. He interviews each poet asking them about their works. I pick this up all the time and reread sections. I can't recommend it enough to lovers of poetry.

[John Fredrickson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was looking forward to reading this, but found it disappointing. I have difficulty with reading a lot of modern poetry, and this was no exception. The poets/poetry felt very self-absorbed ('this-is-my-heritage'/ 'this-is-my-world').

[Snickerdoodle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book introduced me to poets I hadn't known before - to their lives, their personalities. Bill Moyers himself has a lovely way of speaking as he writes. He makes poetry more accessible in this book.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

modern poets with bill moyer interviews. a way to find new poets to like.

[Dusie Press · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked these when they first came out and were still considered, new media! I had to view them at the LRC, via video-tape.... :0

[Danielle DeTiberus]

This is a great collection of interviews with poets from Bill Moyers, one of my heroes!