International Tribute to Poet Susan Birkeland

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Through the magic of the world-wide-web the works of San Francisco poet Susan Birkeland (January 18, 1961 - November 18, 2006) have recently been discovered by the organizers of the 2nd European Festival of Poetry which will be held in Antwerp in September. While surfing the internet German poet and festival co-producer Fred Schywek came across Birkeland's poetry. He and his partner Annmarie Sauer decided to include a tribute to Birkeland in this year's festival program in the form of a special audio recording of Susan's poems. Schywek and Sauer flew to San Francisco and arranged a three hour studio session. This recording will be played for the festival audience.


Susan Birkeland died of cancer at age 45. Her poems are given voice by some of the friends who were close to her in her lifetime and who treasure her memory, Bill Mercer, Ana Elsner, Jerry Ferraz, Nicole Savage and Clara Hsu. This special reading is a powerful manifestation of Susie's boundless spirit, sparkling personality and uninhibited creative force. Her poetry resonates with people across continents and nationalities, and beyond time.

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Fellow poet and friend Ana Elsner paints this picture of Susie
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SUSIE

A Portrait-Poem by Ana Elsner


The flash of an alluring smile,
perhaps accompanied by a soft, girlish giggle,
sucks you into her vortex.

Now playfully mischievous,
now profoundly compassionate,
she plays your heartstrings like so many piano keys.

And she knows it.
And she knows you, and you know her.

Pert and childlike, yet deliciously seductive,
that short, curly-haired quicksilver poet with the angelic face
delivers a high voltage charge straight to your gut.

Stripping herself naked of all pretensions,
the piercing honesty and singular directness of her poems
compel you to take stock of your own frailties and perceptions.

She takes you by the hand
and leads you through the labyrinth of human feeling,
month by month, January through December.

Now this bruised angel has taken flight and left us far behind,
we, who are still mired in our earthbound, self-perceived reality.

Yet, somehow, if you listen closely,
you hear an echo of her voice in your most secret mind.
And, somehow, if you pause but for a moment,
you can still feel the lightness of her touch upon your soul.


© Ana Elsner



Click to find out more about Susie and read her poems


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POEMS MAKE THE WORD GO ROUND (event review)

On Tuesday, February 23, 2010, the typical San Francisco fog was replaced by a torrential downpour, thanks to the capricious weather pattern known as El Niño. Despite this handicap a loyal flock of dyed-in-the-wool poetry fans made their way to the Joe DiMaggio Clubhouse in North Beach to see and hear Ana Elsner perform at her poetry show which she titled POEMS MAKE THE WORD GO ROUND, a library sponsored event featuring poetry and music. They were amply rewarded with a dynamic program where Ana demonstrated the close relationship between these two forms of creative expression.

Poet Ana Elsner is not only a repeat feature at the Library, but she was also the producer and creative director of this powerful artistic dialog, choosing the voice of the oboe to complement her own voice.

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Rather than relying on the Library's graphic artist, Ana Elsner designed the poster for her show herself saying,

"I am essentially a writer, but every once in a while I enjoy dabbling in artwork."

A framed watercolor by Elsner depicting a quote from one of her poems enhanced the setting at the event.

Ana Elsner is known for her animated presentation of her poetry that never fails to captivate the audience. The selective grouping of her poems in four sets did justice to the amazing range of her poetic repertoire. Her invited musical guest, principal oboist of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Laura Griffiths matched the intensity of Elsner's poetry with a masterful delivery of oboe solos, among them works by German Baroque composer Georg Philipp Telemann and by Benjamin Britten.

This pairing of seasoned performers made for a magical and memorable evening. A special thank you goes to the San Francisco Public Library for continuing to fund Ana Elsner's poetry programs.

See event listing at The Academy of American Poets


Find out about Ana Elsner's favorite musical instrument


Click to find more past events


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Looking back (events)

For the past three years Ana Elsner organized and featured in many public events in her ongoing effort to raise the popularity and status of poetry and to bring it before as wide and diverse an audience as possible.

Archive / Images - Caption: Poet Ana Elsner makes her debut at the San Francisco Public Library on June 12, 2007 with a program she designed and titled THE SOUNDING REED. Her invited guest musician was oboist Laura Griffiths.

POET'S STATEMENT

"Poetry is often overlooked among the literary genres. I believe that if I can give newcomers to contemporary poetry a tantalizing taste of it, I will win them over and make them more receptive to it. Toward this end I will leave no proverbial stone unturned," Ana Elsner

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Here are some highlights from 2008.
For event details please click on the 'press release' links.
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- February 2008

POETRY IN BLACK AND WHITE, TWO COLORS - TWO VOICES: devorah major and Ana Elsner join forces at the San Francisco Public Library
For this program, designed to honor Black History Month, Ana Elsner invited devorah major, former Poet Laureate, to participate in a powerful poetry performance dialog demonstrating the coming together of two colors and two distinctive voices.
An excerpt from Elsner's introductory remarks:

"Good evening. ... We are here on the occasion of Black History month. This is the time we pay attention to the realities and concerns of blacks in American society. This is the time we listen to the voices of legends like Martin Luther King and Maya Angelou. And this year it is the time America prepares to elect the first African American president. This is our time to take a giant step in overcoming racism and prejudice and say with one voice and in unison: Yes We Can! ..."

See press release



- April 2008

OBSERVING NATIONAL POETRY MONTH
Bi-lingual poet Ana Elsner celebrates National Poetry Month with a reading of poems by one of the greatest German language poets, Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 – 1926). Elsner read her own Rilke translations as well as those of other translators.
See press release



- June 2008

INVADING THE CAFE SOCIETY - THE ANA ELSNER SHOW
Taking a cue from the 19th century European 'café society', Ana Elsner put on a show of poetry and music at one of the cafes in the famous San Francisco North Beach district.
See press release



- September 2008

THE SF PUBLIC LIBRARY PRESENTS: ANA ELSNER SPEAKS WORDS THAT ARE POEMS
Featured poet Ana Elsner presented a diverse selection of her poems, speaking to all who open their hearts and minds to poetry, followed by conversation and book signing.
An excerpt from Elsner's introductory remarks:

"Good evening. ... I could step behind this lectern and deliver a talk on a particular subject matter, lay it out with logic and exactitude, develop it, cite sources and statistics, and wrap it up neatly with an elegant conclusion. And then you would go home, knowing a little bit more about that particular subject and leave it at that.
But this is not what is going to happen here tonight. Tonight is all about poetry. Poetry touches on many different subjects at once. And when I say 'touches on', I mean 'touches us'.
Poetry is not neutral or topical like a lecture, but rather it is variegated and personal, and will affect each individual differently, that is what makes it so magical.
Poetry is intuitive. It is intuitively conceived by the poet, and is intuitively perceived by you, the audience. ... Tonight you will take home not knowledge, but a lasting emotional impression and hopefully a new inquisitiveness that makes you want to further explore contemporary poetry. That is my aim. ..."

See press release


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Click here to see a typical example of Ana Elsner's strategies to attract a diversified crowd

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