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Item Robert Bly 4-17-1991(SUNY Brockport, 1994-04-17) Bly, Robert 19940417The video opens with Robert Bly reading Loving God in the Kitchen Pans (0:48) from The Morning Poems, to be published later, in 1998. Interviewing Bly for a second time is Al Poulin, former Director of the Brockport Writers Forum and Professor Emeritus at the SUNY Brockport English Department. The interview is conducted in tandem with Professor Anthony Piccione of the SUNY Brockport English Department. This interview marks 24 years between the first time this duo has interviewed Robert Bly, the burial of former President Nixon, and a precarious political environment in South Africa. Al Poulin states Robert Bly is likely the most important American Poet in the second half of the 20th century due to all the work he has done over the course of his career up to the time if filming. The first topic of discussion is the direction of American poetry since 1945 and its present condition as a result and the overall cultural and societal sentiments that have driven that change. Bly describes an overall darkness and lack of joy and enthusiasm he's seeing in poetry at that time. He also mentions there are so many more poets now than ever before and it's impossible to read them all. Al Poulin describes the difficulty of finding love poems in the 20th century for his upcoming anthology. The three gentlemen explore the possible forces that drive the darkness they're seeing in the poetry of this time; including the loss of community, specifically among writers. They discuss the intrinsic drive and desire for absolute sacrifice for poetry. They talk about the drive of being a poet grips them completely such that they must do poetry as if life depended on it. They cannot turn it off: it's their way of existing. They spoke of the younger generation wanting to be poets, but not doing the sacrificial work of doing the writing. Their conversation shifts to the function poetry in American society. In this case they explore the purpose of poetry as exposing people to a deeper life, to get them out of the rut of repetitive, empty lifestyles and seek out their inner experience as it relates to the outside world around them. Poulin observes the poetry manuscripts he receives are less interesting when written by men as opposed to the manuscripts written by women. The three gentlemen discuss at length, why that may be. Bly attributes this change in mens' poetry to the familial isolation among men and boys and the cultural lean toward men expressing shame on an unconscious level. He explains how he believes this happens in American society. The discussion closes with a reading from Bly, who reads The Railroad (41:17).Item Robert Bly 12-01-1971 Part 1(SUNY Brockport, 1970-03-17) Bly, Robert 19711201_Part1Robert Bly reads six of his poems to a small gathering. The poems read were from "A Light Around the Body", "The Morning Glory", and some standalone poems published prior to the time of filming. Below is the reading order of the poems Bly read, along with their time stamp. 0:28 Romans Angry About The Inner World - From "Light Around the Body" 2:21 Looking Into A Tide Pool - From "The Morning Glory" 3:35 Poem in Three Parts - By Robert Bly 5:40 Old Boards - By Robert Bly 6:44 Watering the Horse - By Robert Bly 7:06 When the Dumb Speak - From "Light Around the Body" Leading the discussion are Professors Anthony Piccione and A. Poulin Jr. of the SUNY Brockport English Department. The English Department students open the discussion with Bly. The first topic discussed is changing persona in Bly's work and its connection to the mother and teeth mother, in reference to Bly's poem "The Teeth Mother Naked At Last". Bly discusses, at length, his understanding of an American cultural shift from the culture of his generation to the culture of the next generation and the forces driving those changes. He describes and warns of the dangers that can be encountered during that cultural movement, which included primarily heavy drug use and the atrocities of war. Bly is invited to speak about awareness and spiritual awakening and what he understands is a spiritual shift in the United States. This leads to Bly sharing his thoughts on the Triune Brain hypothesis and research which was groundbreaking at the time of filming. To be continued in Part II: https://hdl.handle.net/1951/84600Item A. Van Jordan 05-07-2008(SUNY Brockport, 2008-05-07) Van Jordan, A. 20080507Item Michael Parker 11-18-2009(SUNY Brockport, 2009-11-18) Parker, Michael 20091118Item Robin Hemley 03-21-2007(SUNY Brockport, 2007-03-21) Hemley, Robin 20070321