The Poet and the Painter

Length 05:20
Licensor Jackson Braider
Producer(s) Jackson Braider
Formats Debut (not aired nationally), Enterprise/Investigative, Soft Feature
Topics Historical Anniversaries, Literature, Media
Produced June, 2004
Added to PRX March 27, 2005
 

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Summary:

The story of how a poet inspired a painter to draw a picture about a poem that had, in turn, been inspired by a piece of the painter's work.

Additional Credits and Funding:

This story was vastly improved by the comments and advice given by the Radio Critique at the Association of Independents of Radio.

Timely on:

May 30: The poem was written on Memorial Day

Tones:

Contemplative, Experimental, Unconventional

Language:

English

Description:

Bill Corbett is a man of letters -- a poet, a teacher, a writer about people and things. Indeed, Corbett is a man of words: He has ideas and thoughts; he has opinions; he loves to talk; he loves to listen. It was probably fated that he would meet one day the artist and purveyor of poem pictures, Phillip Guston. Guston himself was a wordsmith among painters -- he'd done vague collaborations with numerous poets over the years. But when Corbett asked Guston to do the cover for a diary of poems written over the span of a year, Guston did more than just paint a cover, he prepared 13 pictures based upon poems in the Corbett collection. Independent producer Jackson Braider reveals the story behind one of those poem pictures. It's called Memorial Day.