March 5 - VIRTUAL - "I Wanna Be Loved by You" - Poets Inspired by Marilyn Monroe
Margo Taft Stever, AB '72, Ed.M. '74 and Susana H. Case, Ph.D. discuss the significance of Monroe's life. Ten poets, Grace Cavalieri, Heidi Seaborn, John J. Trause, Ann Lauinger, Julie Danho, Joel Alegretti, Sebastian Matthews, Nin Andrews, Susana H. Case and Margo Taft Stever will read their anthology poem and one other related poem of their choice.
In February 2022, Milk & Cake Press published I Wanna Be Loved by You: Poems on Marilyn Monroe, edited by Susana H. Case and Margo Taft Stever. Already in its second printing, this anthology of poems on Marilyn Monroe, one of the all-time greatest iconic figures of beauty and femininity, addresses questions about gender roles and their enactment, and the ways in which women attempt to negotiate the differences between their private and public personae. Because she refused to be silent about sexual abuse and male domination that she encountered, Monroe was a harbinger of the third wave feminist movement which began at the time of her unanticipated death.
I Wanna Be Loved by You: Poems on Marilyn Monroe was a finalist, short-listed, and received Honorable Mention for the 2023 Eric Hoffer Grand Prize in Poetry, and it was also the sole winner of the 2022 Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for Anthology. The collection was also a finalist for the 2022 International Book Award and the American Book Fest Award, both in the Anthology category. The ninety poets who are represented include Sylvia Plath, Sharon Olds, David Lehman, Denise Duhamel, Delmore Schwartz, Ernesto Cardenal, David Trinidad, and Frank Baez. The introduction is written by Lois Banner, the founder of the women’s history movement and author of ten books, including Marilyn: The Passion and the Paradox (Bloomsbury, 2012). All proceeds from the sale of the anthology go to RAINN, the largest U.S. organization that fights against sexual violence.
I Wanna Be Loved by You: Poems on Marilyn Monroe was a finalist, short-listed, and received Honorable Mention for the 2023 Eric Hoffer Grand Prize in Poetry, and it was also the sole winner of the 2022 Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for Anthology. The collection was also a finalist for the 2022 International Book Award and the American Book Fest Award, both in the Anthology category. The ninety poets who are represented include Sylvia Plath, Sharon Olds, David Lehman, Denise Duhamel, Delmore Schwartz, Ernesto Cardenal, David Trinidad, and Frank Baez. The introduction is written by Lois Banner, the founder of the women’s history movement and author of ten books, including Marilyn: The Passion and the Paradox (Bloomsbury, 2012). All proceeds from the sale of the anthology go to RAINN, the largest U.S. organization that fights against sexual violence.
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MARGO TAFT STEVER's latest of three full-length poetry collections is The End of Horses, Broadstone Books, 2022, winner of a 2023 NYC Big Book Award Distinguished Favorite and one of three winners of the 2022 Pinnacle Achievement Award in Poetry. Her other two full-length collections are Cracked Piano (CavanKerry Press, 2019), which was shortlisted and received honorable mention for the 2021 Eric Hoffer Award Grand Prize, and Frozen Spring, 2002 Mid-List Press First Series Award for Poetry. Her latest of four chapbooks is Ghost Moose (Kattywompus Press, 2019). Her poems have appeared in literary magazines including Verse Daily, Plant-Human Quarterly, Cincinnati Review, Rattapallax, upstreet, Salamander, West Branch, Poet Lore, Blackbird, Poem-A-Day, poets.org, Academy of American Poets, and Prairie Schooner. She is founder of the Hudson Valley Writers Center and founder of Slapering Hol Press, for which she served as co-editor for thirty-three years. (www.margotaftstever.com)
SUSANA H. CASE is the award-winning author of nine books of poetry, most recently If This Isn’t Love (Broadstone Books, 2022). She is also the author of five chapbooks. Her first collection, The Scottish Café (Slapering Hol Press) was re-released in an English-Polish version, Kawiarnia Szkocka (Opole University Press) and a Ukrainian version (Slapering Hol Press, 2024). Her poetry is translated into Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. Poems by Case have appeared in literary journals, including CALYX, Catamaran, The Cortland Review, Portland Review, Rattle, RHINO, and upstreet. (www.susanahcase.com)
| Date: | March 5, 2024 |
| Time: | 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM |
| Location: | Via Zoom: |
| Cost: | Free |
| Tickets: | Tickets are available by clicking the button below. |
| Who: | Open to members and alumni. |
| Inquiries: | For further info email howard_yeon@post.harvard.edu |
Praise for I Wanna Be Loved by You: Poems on Marilyn Monroe:
"Six decades following her untimely death, Marilyn Monroe remains a muse. The actress/poet continues to inspire each generation's dreams, imagination, art, and resilience. This collection runs the gamut with poems depicting her childhood sexual abuse, mental illness, dazzling and brilliant film career, support of civil rights, alleged and fabled relationships, and death. Monroe's impact on our culture—and on each of us individually—is captured in this fascinating compilation."
— Gary Vitacco-Robles, Marilyn: Behind the ICON podcast; ICON: The Life, Times & Films of Marilyn Monroe, volumes 1 & 2; Cursum Perficio: Marilyn Monroe's Brentwood Hacienda
I Wanna Be Loved by You—the perfect title for a renewed Marilyn coursing through the dreams of poets who still see the promise and the woe of her life, imagining themselves into what it was like for her to look for love and get so much of it that was not enough. They look for her blessing. They want to complete the life she left for all of us to imagine.
— Carl Rollyson, Marilyn Monroe Day to Day: A Timeline of People, Places, and Events; Marilyn Monroe: A Life of the Actress; Female Icons: Marilyn Monroe to Susan Sontag