BBC Radio Features the Calamus Project
On November 5, BBC’s Poetry Detective featured Whitman’s “We two boys together clinging” in a program on wedding poems. This five-minute segment (it starts at minute 18 in the program) features an interview with Sam Magavern and clips from the song version of “We two boys” by Curtis Lovell. The program is available for a few weeks on the BBC website.
Whitman, Alabama: Screening and Discussion with Director Jennifer Chang Crandall
September 19, 2024 7pm
Burchfield Penney Art Center Auditorium
Free and Open to the Public
Filmmaker Jennifer Chang Crandall describes Whitman, Alabama as an experiment in using documentary and poetry to reveal the threads that tie us together – as people, as states, and as a nation. She crisscrossed the state of Alabama interviewing diverse residents and asking them to recite verses from Walt Whitman’s great poem, “Song of Myself.” The results are uniquely beautiful and moving.
Whitman's Open Road:
An Introduction to Whitman
and “Song of Myself”
September 19, 2024 1–2pm
A Presentation Via Zoom
Free and Open to the Public
Professor Karen Karbiener will offer an interactive introduction to Walt Whitman and his great poem, “Song of Myself.” Professor Karbiener is a professor at New York University, and the founder of the Walt Whitman Initiative. Winner of the Kluge Fellowship at the Library of Congress and a Fulbright recipient, she has published widely on Whitman, including an edition of Leaves of Grass, two audiobooks on the poet’s life and influence, a book introducing Whitman’s poetry to children, and a collaboration with illustrator Brian Selznick on an experiential edition of Live Oak, with Moss, Whitman’s secret same-sex love poems. She is currently working on a biography of the poet.
Whitman, Buffalo
Film Premiere and Reception
Thursday, August 29 at 6pm
Buffalo History Museum
1 Museum Ct., Buffalo NY
Please join us for this special event! The film screening will begin at 6pm and will be followed by a reception with food and refreshments from Extra Extra Pizza. The event is free and open to the public, but to attend you must RSVP, using this link, by August 26.
Embracing Earth:
Burchfield & Whitman
The Calamus Project has been helping the Burchfield Penney Art Center create a new exhibition that explores parallels, contrasts, and influences in the work of Charles Burchfield and Walt Whitman. The show runs from July 12 to October 27, 2024. It includes films and recordings by Ujima Company actors Brian Brown, Curtis Lovell, and Brandon Williamson. Look for special events, including, on September 19, 2024, a screening and discussion with Jennifer Crandall, creator of Whitman, Alabama. As Burchfield once said, “I want to praise and exalt nature as Walt Whitman has done in Leaves of Grass.”
Whitman on Walls (WoW!)
Past Event
In November 2023, Whitman on Walls (WoW!) came to Buffalo. WoW! is a project of Compagnia de’ Colombari, which created seven short films with actors and musicians around the globe performing passages from “Song of Myself.” Colombari then took its films on the road, recruiting seven poets in each location to create and perform poems responding to the films – conversing with, talking back to, wrestling with Walt Whitman. You can now view films of the performances by seven of Buffalo’s finest performance poets, recorded live at the Burchfield Penney Art Center.
Calamus Songs
Past Event
Curtis Lovell has created songs from four of Whitman’s Calamus poems. You can now enjoy films of Curtis performing them live at the Burchfield Penney Art Center and Ujima Theatre, accompanied by the multi-talented Luis Montijo.
Calamus Project Live
Past Event
Ujima Company performed 23 of the Calamus poems live at the Burchfield Penney Art Center on June 29, 2022. You can watch just the performances or the full program, which includes a discussion with the performers and remarks by Burchfield Scholar Nancy Weekly and Partnership for the Public Good senior policy fellow Sam Magavern.
The Calamus Project:
Camaraderie, Friendship, and Love
Past Event
On July 14, 2022 The Walt Whitman Initiative’s Robust American Love podcast featured Brian Brown of Ujima Theatre and Sam Magavern of Partnership for the Public Good discussing the Calamus poems and the Calamus Project with Karen Karbiener. Highlights include Brian’s live performance of “Not heat flames up and consumes.”