Poet Jodie Hollander was exploring the beauty of Arizona’s Walnut Canyon National Monument when an idea came to her.
“I was so inspired and struck by the beauty of the place that it occurred to me, ‘Wouldn’t it be incredible if people could have an opportunity to really deepen their connection to their public lands by writing poems in national parks and national monuments?’” she says, explaining in a phone conversation last week.
“We as human beings are drawn to nature because that’s where we came from, and we need it for our spiritual and mental health,” she says. “There’s something about being in nature that allows us to be more authentically who we are and express more clearly and more honestly what we feel.”
If you’re in Joshua Tree this weekend, you could get the opportunity to learn firsthand. Hollander will be leading Poetry in the Parks workshops today, tomorrow and Sunday. The workshops are free, limited to 25 people per session, and require that you pre-register in order to be admitted. (As of this writing, there are spaces available.)
Jodie Hollander, the author of two books of poetry, “Nocturne” and “My Dark Horses,” is the creator of the Poetry in the Park program. (Photo by Joanna Eldredge Morrissey / Courtesy of Jodie Hollander)
Hollander, the author of two books of poetry, “Nocturne” and “My Dark Horses,” explained what to expect from Poetry in the Park.
“We usually deal with some aspect of nature or sometimes we’ll deal with issues like grief & healing or childhood pain. … For example, Joshua Tree is working with the idea of ‘What’s Your Story?’ right now. So one of our workshops is going to be narrative poetry or telling your story through poetry.”
Hollander, whose husband works for the Forest Service, says that Arizona’s parks were supportive when she pitched them the idea, and she has since conducted workshops across the state over the past few years.
“The workshops were really popular and really well attended and some of the poems that came out of the workshops were really extraordinary and showed a real connection between people on their public lands. And so I thought to expand out of the state of Arizona and I reached out to Joshua Tree, and they were interested,” says the poet. “So this is going to be the first Poetry in the Parks program outside of Arizona.”
Ian Chadwick, Interpretive Park Ranger at Joshua Tree National Park, says Hollander comes highly recommended. He says working with her reflects a desire to make the park available to those who might be interested in activities that complement the more traditional attractions of our national parks.
“Offering alternative programming options is a big part of how Joshua Tree National Park is changing the way it interprets the resource,” says Chadwick, who cites things like the park’s podcast as ways to reach the public. “Realizing that not everyone has the same interests or ability to attend a classic Ranger Program is a big part of how we’re changing. We’re really looking at different ways to reach out to different communities with different interests.”
Chadwick, who says the park is looking for ways to engage with the Southern California community and beyond, has nothing but praise for Hollander. “Jodi’s work herself is absolutely wonderful,” he says, adding that he’s had interest from out of state for the workshops. “It is all about her and her talents and what she’s bringing. So I’m really excited to give her the respect she deserves.”
A graduate of Pomona College, Hollander studied under the noted poet Robert Mezey, and she and I discussed Mezey and his relationship with the poet Henri Coulette, whose long-neglected work I wrote about earlier this year. She and poet/LA literature expert Boris Dralyuk – who connected us – will be doing a virtual reading with Bruce Bond at Vroman’s on Sept. 26.
Asked about the poems that have been written in previous workshops, Hollander was enthusiastic about the work she’s seen so far.
“The poems were incredible. People didn’t have a lot of time, but for some reason – and I always wish I could do that myself, whip up a poem that quickly – people are able to come up with really powerful poems. And sometimes they become better advocates for their public lands as well, which is another really nice benefit of the pairing of poetry and public lands.”
Interested? Reach out to Ranger Chadwick about availability. And check out some of Hollander’s poetry, “Geiger Key” and “Dream #1.”
Joshua Trees sit silhouetted against the sky on Thursday, January 6, 2011 east of the of the Mojave National Preserve. (File photo by Stan Lim, The Press Enterprise/SCNG)
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Naomi Hirahara shares a ‘Godfather’ story you might not know
Author Naomi Hirahara’s latest book, “Evergreen,” is her follow-up to “Clark and Division.” (Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer/ Cover courtesy of Soho Crime)
Pasadena crime writer Naomi Hirahara spoke with Michael Schaub last month as she published her latest novel, “Evergreen.” It’s the second installment in a series that began in 2021 with “Clark and Division,” which introduced the character of Aki Ito, a young Japanese American woman in 1944 who had been imprisoned with her family in the Manzanar concentration camp. Here, she takes the Book Pages Q&A.
Q: How do you decide what to read next?
I’m usually called on to provide blurbs for mystery novels, so my fiction reading is predetermined by that. But I have go-to comfort reads like Elly Griffiths in the U.K., whose books I listen to on audio. I like to also keep abreast of the books written by Asian American debut authors. And truth be told, I’m a junkie for lifestyle and self-help books like “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning” and “Anatomy of a Breakthrough” by Adam Alter, which I listen to while walking the dog.
Q: Do you remember the first book that made an impact on you?
I loved the historical children’s series, “All-of-a-Kind Family,” which is set in the Lower Tenement district of Manhattan in the 1940s. I pulled apart that book, paying attention to how the writer, Sydney Taylor, handled dialogue and multiple characters. In some ways, what I’ve been doing with “Clark and Division” and “Evergreen” is kind of an echo of the work I was doing in my adolescent years. And a fun fact — my current agent represents Sydney Taylor’s estate.
Q. What’s something – a fact, a bit of dialogue or something else – that stayed with you from a recent reading?
Rachel Howzell Hall’s recent thriller, “What Never Happened,” which is set on Catalina Island. Rachel places a Black woman in a place we normally don’t see those characters. And historically, ferries barred African American passengers from traveling to Catalina Island, which has led to the island’s racial monoculture. Rachel always challenges to view place from another perspective.
Q. Do you have any favorite book covers?
Probably Mario Puzo’s “The Godfather” cover. My late friend, S. Neil Fujita, actually designed that cover. He’s included in a documentary produced by the Japanese American National Museum, “Masters of Modern Design,” and wrote a memoir, “Mouth of Reddish Water,” which sadly seems out of print.
Q. Is there a genre or type of book you read the most – and what would you like to read more of?
I definitely read crime fiction the most—no surprise—as well as nonfiction, a lot of biographies, mostly for research. I would like to make the time to read epic, textured historical fiction, many pages long.
Q. Is there a person who made an impact on your reading life – a teacher, a parent, a librarian or someone else?
Teachers, definitely. My high school AP teacher recommended that I read books like Lady Murasaki’s “Tale of Genji,” reported to be one of the first novels ever written. That she would even know the existence of such a work is a testament to her vast reading knowledge. It was in her class that we read the play, Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” which made a profound impact on me.
Q. What do you find the most appealing in a book: the plot, the language, the cover, a recommendation? Do you have any examples?
The voice. It has to grab me from the first few pages. I’m looking for musicality in the writing. I recently read a Korean book in translation, Cheon Myeong-kwan’s “Whale.” It’s a crazy, absurd book, a fairy tale that features these very memorable women. Even in translation, the voice shines.
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On the next installment Oct. 20 at 5 p.m., Amy Ferris and Chuck Palahniuk join host Sandra Tsing Loh and my colleague Samantha Dunn to talk about their new books. Sign up for free now.
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