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An expressive art such as poetry is bound to reflect the
author’s personality, and this is the case with GCC’s own Professor
of English Bart Edelman. If you know Bart already, you know that he is
congenial, observant, witty, and expressive. We can see these qualities
in his poems as well, which have become an integral part of Bart’s
work here. Of course, these characteristics have embodied Bart’s
teaching in his composition and poetry classes since 1975.
Over the last ten years, Bart has expanded his sphere of
influence to include the realm of published poems, both in anthologies
and in books of his own. He says that he works on his poetry daily,
adhering to a well-disciplined routine that he fits into his busy
schedule. He has written four books of his poetry: Crossing
the Hackensack (Prometheus Press, 1993), Under
Damaris’ Dress (Lightning Publications, 1996), The
Alphabet of Love (Red Hen Press, 1999), and The
Gentle Man (Red Hen Press, 2001). Also, his works have been
selected for inclusion in numerous anthologies and textbooks, including
the moving “Coat of Sorrow” in September
11, 2001: American Writers Respond (Etruscan Press, 2002),
and the nostalgic “Black Cadillac” in Writing
Talk: Paragraphs and Short Essays with Readings (Prentice
Hall, 2000) as two examples. More recent text credits include the 11th
edition of Readings for Writers (Heinle,
2004) and two well-known literature texts, Robert Di Yanni’s Literature:
Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (McGraw-Hill, 2004)
and the 7th edition of Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E.
Jacobs’ Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing (Pearson/Prentice-Hall,
2004). His work has also been published in anthologies by Simon and
Schuster and City Lights Books, as well as in literary journals.
Bart’s work has attracted critical attention. William Heyen,
editor of the September 11, 2001
anthology, wrote that Bart’s work is “Not quite like any other
poetry I’ve read,” and that his poetry in The
Gentle Man is a “complex and inexhaustible song” that is
at once “unexpected, unusual, [and] troubling.” Kate Gray, writing a
review of The Gentle Man, asserted
that “Men’s poetry has grown into a gentle art….Perhaps it was
Robert Bly who called men inside themselves. Certainly it was Billy
Collins and Li-Young Lee who challenged men to notice their vulnerable
natures and the intimacy of their relationships. In this fine new
tradition lies Bart Edelman….With a delightful use of the outrageous,
Edelman provides his readers with the means to examine their lives by
caustically examining his own.” Bart is also described by editor Edgar
V. Roberts, in the introduction to
Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, as one of
the “younger poets…with great distinctions to their credit” who
are rising in
prominence.
For some time now, Bart has read his poetry to audiences across
Southern California, nationwide, and
in different parts of the world. For instance, in addition
to appearances at a large number of local
bookstores, schools, libraries, and other venues, he was
poet-in-residence at Monroe College of the State University of New York
in Rochester. His long list of past reading engagements includes Hofstra
University (his alma mater),
an event for The Prague Review Visiting
Poets Series in the Czech Republic, and the LAND (Liberal Arts Network
for Development) Conference this past February in Traverse City,
Michigan, where he was the keynote speaker. He has won “grants and
fellowships from the U. S. Department of Education and the L.B.J. School
of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin to conduct
literary research in India, Egypt, Nigeria, and Poland,” says a sketch
of Bart’s career. Many of these engagements have been right here at
GCC and in the city of Glendale, such as at the Glendale Public Library.
At many of these readings, student and public audiences ask, for
instance, whether the poems are autobiographical. Bart replies that of
course, many of the topics are inspired by real-life events, but not
necessarily his own.
Here at GCC, Bart has edited Eclipse,
GCC’s own award-winning literary journal since 1989; this
year’s edition is the 14th. Bart relates that the journal
began with “only student writing, and it was a small, stapled
publication for the college community.” After receiving a grant in
1999, Eclipse became a
“national literary journal,” yet, Bart points out, “As far as I
know, we are the only college journal with a national audience that
continues to publish its student writers, alongside other writers who
have won prestigious literary awards. This gives our students a rather
high aim to shoot for in their work, and they have responded wonderfully
to this challenge.” In addition to including student work in about a
fourth of the journal, Bart puts other students to work on its
production. He has support as well from faculty and staff participating
in the selection of manuscripts and aspects of the journal’s design
and distribution.
So what is next for Bart? More of his inspired and diligent
efforts. The latest Eclipse came
out this fall, and work is underway on the next edition. He reminds
faculty to announce the opportunity for students to submit fiction,
poetry, and one-act plays of their own for consideration. His own latest
book of poetry, The Last Mojito,
is slated for publication next year through Red Hen Press. His next
anthology credit will be Red, White,
and Blues: Poetic Vistas on the Promise of America (University
of Iowa Press, 2004). He also has scheduled college reading engagements
next year in Chicago (March), Charlottesville and Farmville, Virginia
(April), and Austin, Texas (May). In spite of his many commitments,
though, he is always willing to visit classes here at GCC to read and
discuss his poems; many instructors here and nationwide include his
works in their courses.
In reading his poems, you will recognize an enhanced version of
the witty, outgoing, observant personality that has become familiar to
us. His words capture many facets of a fascinating world-view that both
offers something new and allows us to recognize aspects of ourselves.
You can visit websites that include links to some of Bart’s
poems: http://english.glendale.edu/bart.other.pub.html, or Red Hen
Press’ website at www.redhen.org.&
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