The Poetry Show
On NJN’s State of the Arts
Friday, November 9 at 8:30 pm; and Wednesday, November 14 at 11:30 pm

STATEWIDE – This edition of State of the Arts showcases poetry in New Jersey. We'll meet young poets competing in a national poetry recitation competition called Poetry Out Loud, talk with rising star Ekiwah Adler Beléndez at the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, and hang out at band practice with world-renowned poet and Princeton University professor, Paul Muldoon. The Poetry Show airs on Friday, November 9 at 8:30 pm, with a rebroadcast on Wednesday, November 14 at 11:30 pm. State of the Arts marks twenty-five years on NJN this year. The series has earned 28 Regional Emmy Awards, including New York Emmy Awards in 2007 and 2005, and Mid-Atlantic Emmys in 2007 and 2006.

• Poetry Out Loud!
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Poetry Foundation have partnered with Arts Agencies in each state to support Poetry Out Loud, recitation competitions that encourage the nation's youth to learn about great poetry through memorization and performance. This exciting program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage. The 2006-2007 school year was the second year of Poetry Out Loud. Statewide competitions culminated in the 2007 National Finals in Washington, DC, on May 1, 2007. In this story, State of the Arts producer Christopher Benincasa covers Poetry Out Loud in New Jersey, from a regional competition at Dante Hall in Atlantic City to the state finals at the NJN Studios in Trenton. Along the way viewers will meet a few state finalists: Absegami High School student Kaylee Bruckler, Williamstown High School student Sandy Lamplugh, and Newark Arts High School student and state champion Naja Selby, who went on to the National Finals. Also featured in this story is Poetry Foundation president and poet John Barr, who, along with NEA chairman and poet Dana Gioia, created the pilot program for Poetry Out Loud and continues to support its growth and development through out the country.

• Ekiwah the Warrior
Ekiwah Adler-Beléndez is a young Mexican poet considered a prodigy in both Spanish and English. Ekiwah, which means “warrior” in Purepecha (an indigenous Mexican language), is a fitting name as he has battled cerebral palsy since his premature birth in 1987. According to his parents, as a child Ekiwah would spontaneously compose poems to the world around him. He began to put his verses on paper at age 10, and at age 12 he became a literary sensation in Mexico with his first published book, “Soy” (“I Am”). Ekiwah writes that, “In a way cerebral palsy has forced me to do what I love the most: stop dead in my tracks and write.” When he developed a life-threatening case of scoliosis, his X-rays and a book of his poems reached Dr. Roy Nuzzo, a New Jersey pediatric orthopedic surgeon. Dr. Nuzzo, a poet himself, was so moved by Ekiwah’s work that he arranged for a marathon surgery with volunteer doctors that took place at NYU Medical Center in 2004. Dr. Nuzzo has said that saving Ekiwah’s life is the single most important thing he will ever do. Since the surgery, Ekiwah has been straighter and can stand, although he still cannot walk independently. He continues to write, with his fourth book in the works. In September 2006, he opened the Main Stage readings at the 2006 Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, the youngest poet ever to do so. State of the Arts producer Susan Wallner meets Ekiwah at the festival, and visits with him as he reads and interacts with fans at the largest poetry festival in North America. Wallner also talks to Dr. Nuzzo at his office in Summit, where she learns of the impact this young poet has had on the surgeon and on others who read his poetry.

• Paul Muldoon & Rackett
The world of poetry has its own set of rock stars: Maya Angelou, Billy Collins, and Robert Pinsky, to name a few. And then there’s Paul Muldoon who wants to rock the poetry world — as well as the rock world. With his “three-car garage” band Rackett, Princeton University professor and Pulitzer prize-winning poet Muldoon has taken to playing at various venues, including bars, coffee houses and Princeton University. In this story, viewers follow Muldoon, a resident of Griggstown, New Jersey, from a proper poetry reading at Trenton’s historic Ellarslie Mansion, to band practice in, literally, a three-car garage, to a live gig in Princeton. That’s where State of the Arts producer Christopher Benincasa caught the band rocking out to a sold-out crowd at Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium.

State of the Arts, the award-winning, half-hour arts magazine, airs every Friday at 8:30 pm, followed by an encore presentation each Wednesday at 11:30 pm.

The current episode of State of the Arts can be viewed online at www.njn.net. Individual stories will be available to view following their broadcast by visiting the program online at State of the Arts.

Funding for State of the Arts is provided by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. The series producer is Susan Wallner and the executive producer is Nila Aronow.

NJN is available on all New Jersey cable systems, satellite systems, and Time Warner Cable channel 750 in NYC.
State of the Arts is also available via video streaming at njn.net after the original broadcast.
Additionally, the program is repeated on NJN’s JerseyVision available on Comcast Digital Cable in New Jersey.
(Check http://www.njn.net/digital/schedule.html for detailed listings.)
NJN – Uniquely New Jersey
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