While our course this term is exploring contemporary world poetry, that's not so clear-cut a concept, particularly in a media-saturated world where national boundaries are no longer as neatly sealed as they once were. As we begin our time with Philip Metres, we'll find our definitions of "American" challenged in a variety of ways, though to be clear, Metres is no more or less American than the American poets we'll conclude the semester with — he was born in San Diego in 1970 — but he's also the product of a number of unique influences outside of America that shape his poetic perspectives.
Metres' father served during the Vietnam war and also volunteered at a Vietnamese orphanage while there. Upon returning home, his family played host to a family of refugees, making a big impression upon a young Metres: "I think that meeting them, and in some ways, growing up with them for those six months opened me up to some of the tragedies of the world and differences," he notes, "and that we're not all the same and we come from very different places and our houses will smell different, and the foods taste different, but those are things that are interesting, they're not to be feared." This spirit of empathy towards America's perceived enemies continues in Metres' post-college career, when he won a Thomas J. Watson fellowship to study poetry in Russia, a project which was not only eye-opening — as he interacted with everyday people struggling in the aftermath of the Soviet Union — but would also indirectly lead to his work as a translator of several volumes by Russian poets. Finally, there's Metres' ethnic background (he's half Lebanese), which has continued to shape his work in America's post 9/11 environment of hostility towards the Middle East (particularly the recent and much-lauded chapbook Abu Ghraib Arias).
When taken together, these factors reveal a close level of personal interaction with some of the most important socio-political forces within Metres' lifetime, and it's not surprising that he's become an advocate for human rights and social justice, an opponent of war, and a supporter of greater understanding between nations as well as individuals. And while his 2008 debut collection, To See the Earth, is largely comprised of poems written during the earlier half of the decade, their concerns and subject matter still seem very much a part of our contemporary discourse.
Here's our reading schedule for To See the Earth (be sure to check the notes at the end of the book):
- Thurs., October 16: "Primer for Non-Native Speakers" to "The Ballad of Skandar"
- Tues., October 21: "A House Without" to "Bat Suite"
And here are some supplemental links:
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