JULY–SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER–DECEMBER 2008
VIRGINIA LIBRARIES
PAGE 49
The Chesapeake Poetry Festival
by Jean Carideo and Phyllis Schirle
Jean Carideo is manager of Russell
Memorial Library.
Phyllis Schirle serves as special pro
grams coordinator for the Chesapeake
Public Library System.
“Poetry isn’t a profession;
it’s a way of life.
It’s an empty basket;
you put your life into it
and make something
out of that.”
MARY OLIVER
F or the last sixteen years,
Russell Memorial Library
has been the home of the
Chesapeake Poetry Festival. The
first festival, held in 1993, was
the result of a casual conversa
tion between Norfolk attorney
C. Edward “Eddie” Russell Jr. and
Chesapeake Public Library Direc
tor Margaret “Peggy” Stillman. The
idea began when Russell was taking
a class in poetry at Virginia Com
monwealth University taught by
his longtime friend and Poet Laure
ate of Portsmouth Dave Smith. Rus
sell asked Stillman if she thought
holding a poetry workshop in a
public library might be interest
ing and if Dave Smith could help.
Not one to miss an opportunity (or
a beat), Stillman enthusiastically
agreed. With Russell and Smith
helping, she began planning what
would become an annual event.
The Chesapeake Poetry Festival
was introduced to the community
as a celebration of the richness of
Virginia’s regionally, nationally,
and internationally known poets,
presented through poetry readings
and workshops.
The Chesapeake Poetry Festival
was a first: never before in a pub
lic library in Virginia had there
been such a gathering of poets to
celebrate each other’s accomplish
ments as writers and to enjoy the
sharing of ideas, feelings, and the
power of poetry with the commu
nity at large. Due to Smith’s net
work of friends and colleagues and
his strength as a nationally known
writer, twenty poets traveled to
Russell Memorial Library for an
intense weekend of public work
shops, readings, and receptions.
George Garrett, Ellen Voight,
Larry Levis, and Charles Wri