Music for Landing Planes By

admin — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 13:39:00 +0000

Music for Landing Planes By is an intriguing collection of poetry by Éireann Lorsung. Lorsung draws from her experiences studying print making and drawing in Italy and teaching high school in rural France. Her collection of poems is woven together through her thoughtfully crafted verse and repetition of words. Lorsung skillfully comments on broader social issues through her reflections on daily activities.

The collection begins with the poem "Being," which sets the tone and style for the compilation as well as acquaints the reader with Lorsung's view of her life as inspiration for her writing: "every place I've been is on fire with words." And, what a remarkable life she has led. With the maturity and depth of her writing, the reader would not guess that this is Lorsung's debut collection of poetry.

Her craft is at its best in her poems "And Will Be," "Forgetting in Multiple" and "Printmaking." Lorsung's use of enjambment encourages the reader to look at the verse in its entirety and then reflect on the multiple meanings each line offers. Her poems find inspiration in nature and speak of blooming flowers and waiting out the winter thaw like "birds in the thatch." The beauty of Lorsung’s poetry is that you can read her poems over and over and discover something new each time.

Written by: Breanne Reindl, July 15th 2007

Unbowed

admin — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 17:39:00 +0000

Wangari Maathai

Alfred A. Knopf

This inspirational memoir traces the life of an extraordinary woman. Wangari Maathai was born in 1940 in a small Kikuyu community in Kenya. Throughout the memoir we watch Maathai’s life change and progress alongside Kenyan society. The memoir unfolds with stories of Kikuyu traditions and beliefs as a young Maathai plants crops alongside her mother. We see the influence that British colonization has on Kenyan society as European practices are adopted and cash crop agriculture replaces native plants. Maathai understands the value of Kenya’s natural habitat and how it must bridge Kenya’s past and future.

Maathai’s life lessons culminate in her founding the Green Belt Movement. The Green Belt Movement and its aim to create a better future for Kenya blends the childhood lessons Maathai learned watching her mother work with the land, the ability to think critically and to ask questions which she gained while attending college in the United States, and the importance of valuing one’s culture that she learned while conducting research for her Ph.D. in Germany. Maathai’s aims in Kenya become increasingly political as she rallies for equal pay and benefits for female professors at the college where she teaches, stands up to the government when it attempts to destroy one of Kenya’s community parks, and stages a year long sit-in with mothers whose sons were political prisoners. Throughout the memoir, Maathai struggles to maintain peace both in Kenya and in her personal life. She withstands a humiliating divorce, multiple arrests and social stigma.

This memoir, much like Maathai herself, honors Kenyan history and tradition while simultaneously planting the seeds of a brighter future for Kenya. Maathai’s perseverance and dedication to noble causes bring her allies both in Kenya and abroad, but it is a long journey before Maathai’s efforts are truly appreciated and honored in Kenya. After all of Maathai’s struggles, there couldn’t be a more beautiful ending to her memoir than to see her joy as she is honored with the Nobel Peace Prize.

Written by: Breanne Reindl, April 19th 2007