The Bill Mullen Recitation Contest
 

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Christian Lehmann on the 2024 contest

There are two aspects of the contest that stand out every year. The first is the incredible bravery of the students and the seriousness with which they take preparation for this event, the kind of event that Bill Mullen would have appreciated so very much. One of his passions was the act of memorizing and reciting poetry. But, importantly, memorizing poetry is not just for the self it is also an act of generosity and sharing. And that is what makes an experience like the Recitation Contest so exciting. It is an afternoon of marvelous communal gifting. Secondly, I marvel at the accidental anthology that an event like this generates. We don’t provide a theme for the students and so the choices students make stand beside one another, but not in isolation. I did not begrudge the judges their duties, but Ann Lauterbach and Thomas Bartscherer were finally able to come to a decision.

The poems ranged from familiar names like T. S. Eliot and Emily Dickinson, to some that are perhaps less well-known like Rajzel Żychlińsky and Don Marquis. Several performers chose poems that had been translated into English. A few patterns emerged that perhaps reflect the tumultuous world stage. Pati Dynes recited Pablo Neruda’s “The Dead Woman” in which the refrain “I shall live on” (yo seguiré viviendo) hauntingly echoes the responsibilities of a witness to global repression to speak out. Later in the afternoon, Gjon Rezaj performed “Anthem for Doomed Youth” by Wilfred Owen, a young poet who died in battle in 1918 at the age of 25. 
Even the seemingly more comic poems resonated with the accidental themes that had emerged. Lydia Schultz’ choice of Don Marquis “Archy Turns Revolutionist,” a poem about a poetry-writing cockroach turned revolutionary anticipated Maria Flores’ “Revolutionary Letter #74” by Diane di Prima (a complete text of the Revolutionary Letters can be found here, #74 appears on page 101). Her arresting performance in which she punctuated the line breaks and spaces in the original poem with silence and physical shifts charged the air of Bard Hall and earned her the first place award. The juxtaposition of these two poems reminded me that philosophers and poets of revolution come in a variety of genres and tones.

One of the most stirring moments in the afternoon came when Sage Rudolf changed her submission and instead recited three minutes of martyr statements from recently deceased Palestinians. This act earned her the inaugural People’s Choice Award. Arinel Paddock’s performance of the Yiddish poet Żychlińsky’s “Samson,” which she also translated into English, garnered second place.

Once again the Hannah Arendt Center put on a marvelous event and I want to thank them, and especially Tina Stanton, Jana Mader, and Roger Berkowitz, for a perfect afternoon. A complete list of performers and poems appears below.