Kim Bridgeford
The women poets will be marching on Washington this weekend.
The Mezzo Cammin Women Poets Timeline Project, the largest database of women poets, will be launched in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, March 27 at 6:00 p.m. at the National Museum in the Arts.
It is an outgrowth of Mezzo Cammin, a web journal devoted to poetry by women. English Professor Kim Bridgford founded the journal four years ago.
“I thought, what would happen if we had a resource available for women poetry that could tap into women writers and women issues?” said Bridgford.
The web journal and timeline consists of the well-known women authors like Sylvia Plath and Emily Dickinson, as well as local poets. Each poet in the database has an accompanying photograph, an essay written about her, and sample poems. The contributing poems and essays are by a series of people invested in women’s poetic history.
“It will transgress time, making it possible to connect poets from century to century,” said Stefania Cambanis ‘11.
At the launch, there will be readings of poems, a performance by jazz artist Somi, and what Bridgford described as a women poets roll call. This is a reading of the names of all self-identified poets who will stand up together, giving everyone a chance to see the women whose work is published in the database.
As Brittany Hill ‘10 said, “Many of the poets in today’s society are women, but a lot of their work is not known or published.”
According to the University press release, the web journal Mezzo Cammin is intended to promote the work of contemporary women poets and expose readers to formal poetry. There are sonnets, essays, book reviews and more. The poems on the Web site and time line are peer reviewed.
With this database, people can see in a global way what people are writing about, said Bridgford.
“This is a global project,” she continued.
“In five years, I think it will be a resource where we can see Chinese, South African, French women poets.”
Bridgford plans to travel to London, Rome and a series of other stops to literary art communities to encourage local poets to join.
“The project will bring women poets together from all over the world and connect poets by genre, form, and topic,” said Cambanis.
The online database is a wonderful opportunity because it is available overseas where people can find poets and their poetry and apply this knowledge to any work they may be completing, said Hill.
Cambanis and Hill only a few of the University community attending the event in Washington. Other members of Fairfield’s academic community have also been involved in the launching of the Timeline Project, said Bridgford. English professor Pete Duval designed the database and Studio Art professor Jo Yarrington designed the logo. In addition, two Dolan School of Business classes are helping with registration and the operation of the launch.
“This is project is something everyone can use, men and women, and we all benefit,” Bridgford said. “The more we all read and understand each other, the more celebratory the world is.”
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