Poetry Wall 2 Creates Poetry Corner in Fort Atkinson
Dedication Saturday, July 28, 2018
 
 
The Lorine Niedecker Wisconsin Poetry Festival and the Friends of Lorine Niedecker are at it again. If you have not noticed yet, check out the southwest corner of North Main Street and Sherman Avenue. There is a new poetry wall being painted. The success of the first poetry wall, Fish, Fowl Flood Water Lily Mud My Life got the Friends to think about a second wall.
 
The new wall will be dedicated on Saturday, July 28 at 1:00 p.m. There will be a community picture taken at 1:15. Everyone is welcome to be a part of the history of the new Poetry Corner in Fort Atkinson. Activities during the day are planned and will share the day with the “Friends and Family Weekend in Fort Atkinson” sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce.
 
Activities start at the Farmer’s Market. Street Poet Paul Wiegel is back by popular demand to create poems while you wait and a sidewalk chalk Poetry Path will be created. At 10:00 at the Dwight Foster Public Library “Wall Words in Fort Atkinson” will be presented by poet Anjie Kokan. “We are so lucky to have her energy and expertise for this program” said Ann Engelman, Friends of Lorine Niedecker “She will be fooling with words, exploring the verses on the two poetry walls and inviting everyone to take a crack at their own poem.”
 
The dedication of the wall will be at 1:00. Everyone is invited to come, meet the artist Jeremy Pinc and others who helped make this possible. There will be a community picture at 1:15. Engelman noted, “This will be a part of Fort Atkinson’s history. Not every community has a poet like Lorine or a Poetry Corner. We are hoping as many people as possible will show up for the picture and be a part of this history in our town.” There will also be poetry activities near the wall in the Belmont Bar parking lot.
 
“We could not have done this project and the day’s activities without the support of the Fort Arts Council, the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation, the Wisconsin Humanities Council with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the State of Wisconsin and the Tourism Commission of Fort Atkinson. We are lucky to have poet Anjie Kokan come and help us understand what these poems mean to our lives and that Jeremy Pinc was available to fit this creation into his calendar.
 
Jeremy “Guzzo” Pinc was born in Chicago, 1972. He grew up in the suburb of Oak Park, Illinois before attending The University of Richmond 1990-1994. Following graduation with an Art History degree he traveled extensively, living in Italy, Montana and various parts of the Midwest. He began painting around 1995. His style has changed frequently throughout his career but there are consistent references to Modernism, Graffiti, Comics and Graphic Design within his work. More recently he has begun to incorporate the languages of Art Brut and Outsider Art. Jeremy has shown his work at various galleries in Madison, Milwaukee, Chicago and smaller towns in between. Most recently, he curated "Future Primitive" at The Bubbler (Madison's Central Library) and will open a solo show at their main gallery in the fall of 2018. Collectors enjoy his work in the midwest, as well as on the coasts in NY & CA and across the pond in Paris. Jeremy lives with his wife in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin and recently was recruited into the MFA program at UW Madison. 
 
Angie Kokan is an award-winning writer and teacher who enjoys sharing her love of language and writing with people of all ages and abilities. She has been facilitating creative writing workshops in Wisconsin for over fifteen years.  Anjie’s writing has earned recognition from the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets, the Council for Wisconsin Writers, and the Wisconsin Writers Association. Anjie also teaches in the English Language Academy at UW-Whitewater and serves as the contest coordinator for the WITESOL Writing and Art Contest.
Jeremy Pinc and Ann Engelman will be part of the Fall Lecture series at the Fort Atkinson Club on Tuesday, September 25. The topic will be “ Inspired by Lorine”  Two poetry walls have created a Poetry Corner in downtown Fort Atkinson. This presentation will speak to what inspired them, how they came to be, why those stanzas were chosen, how they relate to everyday life for everyone and why in Fort Atkinson.
 
Lorine Niedecker has been called the poet of place because her imagery is so grounded in the area where she lived. Basil Bunting called her “the Emily Dickenson of this century.” As an objectivist poet, the simplicity of her images helps us sense our own experiences with the elements around us. Lorine was strongly affected by her life on Blackhawk Island, surrounded by water. Her words weave the textures of her culture, family and neighbors. Though she is nationally and inter- nationally known, Wisconsin is still learning about her significance as a respected poet ranked among the 20th-century's finest.