University of Alaska Fairbanks - Denali Yearbook (Fairbanks, AK)

Page 25 text:

Experience Each student was invited to send his best work during the next year to the Alaska Workshop for criticism by the student writers here. Dr. Skellings said that the theme of the talks was the relationship between the facts of an indiv- idual ' s life and the process of artistic creation. He went on to say that they tried to show the stu- dents that literature is a living process and not the Museum of the printed page. Their trip took them from Chadron State College in Nebraska to Indiana State College at Terre Haute. In all they visited 11 colleges, including the Univ- ersity of North Dakota in Fargo where they spoke to a group of Indian students. Dr. Skellings considers the personal contact be- tween the poets and the students as the most im- portant facet of the tour. In many cases the stu- dents invited the poets to dances and to readings of their own poetry after the program and helped both the poets and the students to communicate on a very personal level. Ken Warfel feels that there was a good and very satisfying response from the kids. He added that they chopped down the image of teachers by showing students that teachers were also human and capable of mistakes. He said that they accomplished this by becom- ing a part of the students they talked with by re- cognizing their values and by showing them that poetry involved them. Dr. Kaufman feels that there is a general gap between parents and youths. He says that today ' s generation is brighter and more hip than their par- ents were and that today ' s youth will take honesty and nothing else. If you turn phony you turn them off. He said that during their trip they tried to be as honest as possible with the students they met and that the trip fulfilled one of their own ideals, Honesty for the sake of Honesty. He added that it worked that they got turned on and the students got turned on and the Upward Bound finally found its name. The flying poets hope to make their lecture series a continuing program. They plan to visit high schools in Alaska during the coming year and tour Scandinavian countries next summer. Skellings said that if the Vietnam war does not curtail the present cultural thaw between the United States and Russia, next summer ' s tour will 21

Page 24 text:

Voctr AisA ♦ ♦ Late last spring three representatives of the Creative Writers Workshop from the University of Alaska flew down to Seward to present a one -hour session on poetry for the students of the Kenai School District. The three were Ken Warfel, Dr. Bob King and Dr. Ed Skellings. They thoroughly delighted the students with their presentation of their own poems and some modern poems. BY MARY LOU HELFRICH They generated so much enthusiasm in their initial trip that it lead to a month long lecture series at colleges in the Southwest and Midwest this summer. The tour was financed by the Upward Bound headquarters in Washington, D.C. as a pilot program to acquaint college students with modern poets and poetry. The Upward Bound program, which is funded by the Economic Opportunity Act, is meant primarily to give students from poverty stricken areas a chance to experience a college atmosphere. The flying poets allowed these students to meet specialists in the Arts with the hope that this con- frontation would stimulate them to continue their education. Two other members Dr. Donald Kaufman and Professor Lawrence Wyatt, of the University ' s English department joined the three original fliers on their trip. Ken Warfel was the only student among the five. Ken is well known for his poetry at the university and has published a book of poems, Fow and other Finger Prints . Dr. Skellings was the driving force behind the tour and acted as program director for the group. The poets chartered a six-passenger plane and flew it from school to school on their tour. Each visit began with the poets giving the students some idea of their background and an explanation of their own interest in poetry, fiction, and drama. They encouraged student participation and each of them met with smaller groups of students after the program. They also held conferences with indiv- idual students who showed an interest in writing. 20

Page 26 text:

• DR. KAUFMANN I MISS YOU Margaret Lucille Adams Laurel Hall San Marcos, Texas 78666 June 29, 1967 Dear Dr. Kaufmann, I am the Negro girl that was sitting by the window in the first group you talked to. I just wanted to thank graciously spent here with us. I can truth -fully say I love you all. You are the kind of people I wish I could meet or be around always. Please excuse my manuscript form but I am in a hurry. I have two tests to study for. I must say that I miss you all, although you were here one day and we are almost total strangers. I hold you 5 men very high in my hea rt because you all gave back to me what was fading away. My respect for myself, my ideas, and just plain me. I thank you very much. May God Bless and keep you all. Please write when you have time. Love Margaret My friends call me Sister. Will you, too? Love Sister 22