No voice given to antiwar poets

In a growing movement, poets are beginning to speak out against a possible U.S. war against Iraq -- and in one sign that their protests are being taken seriously, the White House this week postponed a poetry symposium, fearing that the event would be turned into an antiwar forum, according to an Associated Press report.

The event, which Laura Bush had scheduled for Feb. 12, was to feature the poetry of Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes and Walt Whitman. The White House has not announced a new date. “While Mrs. Bush respects the right of all Americans to express their opinions, she too has opinions and believes it would be inappropriate to turn a literary event into a political forum,” a spokeswoman for the first lady said.

Poet Sam Hamill, editor of Copper Canyon Press in Port Townsend, Wash., had organized a protest against the symposium, e-mailing colleagues and soliciting antiwar poems or statements.

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Renee Tawa