I don’t know how many times I’ve said it, but I don’t get poetry. I mean there are just so many ways to poeticize and there doesn’t seem to be any definitive right way. I can’t define it, but I know what I like. I guess I go for stuff from people like Bill Littlefield and E. Ethelbert Miller, both of whom have appeared as guests for Bookshelf Conversations. I have made a few lame attempts, but after talking with Steve Biondilillo, founder of the National Baseball Poetry Festival, it just confirms that I don’t really have a clue (even though I wrote a weekly Torah haiku when I was the arts and features editor for the New Jersey Jewish News).
Biondilillo has made it a point to make the Festival as inclusive as possible. The event attracts people from around the country and beyond. And it’s not just for adults either. Young people — future baseball and poetry fans — have the opportunity to participate.
You can find lots of baseball poetry in outlets like Spitball Magazine and on Bardball.com, where — full disclosure — I had contributed a few pieces.
For those interested in trying their hand, I recommend When Words Collide: A Crash Course in Writing Poetry, by A.L.S. Vossler.
The Fourth Annual Festival will take place from May 7-10 at Polar Ballpark in Worcester, MA.
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