Drinking Poems, Vodka Manhattans, and You can't wear stripes with that.

Tomorrow is the last day of April and as such, Poetry Awareness Month.  So I thought it would be great to dive into some poems close to the subject matter of this blog - Drinking.  On this subject I turn to Curtis Fox of the Poetry Foundation for guidance.

Curtis put together a program on "Drinking in Poetry" and invited guests Jeff Gordinier (staff writer for the NYT Dining Section) and Rosie Schaap (Drinks columnist for the NYT Magazine and author of the upcoming novel "Drinking with Men") to join him for drinks at Temple Bar in lower Manhattan.   Their discussion of some of their favorite drinking poems is lighthearted, insightful and follows here:


http://www.poetryfoundation.org/features/audioitem/3228

In the discussion, the wonderful poem Grappa in September by Cesare Pavese is mentioned but not read, you can find the text of it here.

Jeff Gordinier's reading of Ciaran Carson's Hippocrene is definitely worth listening to - you will never look at a Bloody Mary the same again.

If you love wine, When Dean Young Talks about Wine, is a must read.  It is also where the "You can't wear stripes with that" reference comes from.

Since many of the poets featured were from NYC, (O'Hara and Kenneth Koch) and since Jeff Gordinier and I are currently on Manhattan kicks I'm throwing this one in that I saw recently from Kettle One but have yet to try out.  Why, because I'm afraid, very afraid.

The Historical Inebriant:  

Please visit the Poetry Foundation's site.  It's a great site if you love poetry -
It's a Fantastic site if  you don't!


April is almost over, but take the poetry with you all year long
with the Poetry Foundation's Mobile App!
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/mobile/

To my Canadian/William and Mary alum/Librarian friends.

As you all know (now), April is National Poetry Month (it's also the cruelest month but we'll leave that for another day) so fair warning about my breaking out the beret and the turtleneck. But fear not, drinking and poetry do mix.

On this day in 1934 the Canadian-born poet Mark Strand was born.  Strand is the writer of one of my favorite lighthearted poems (apologies to librarians everywhere) so take a moment to read it here:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/237702

______________________________________

Also, on this day in 1775, the last execution for witchcraft occurred in Germany.

The Historical Inebriant:  The Witch Hunt
http://cocktails.about.com/od/whiskeyrecipes/r/Witch-Hunt.htm



Ingredients:

• 1 oz  Scotch
• 1/2 oz Dry Vermouth
• 1/4 oz Strega Herbal Liqueur
• 1 oz Lemonade

Pour ingredients into an old fashioned glass over crushed ice.

Btw, the drink gets its name from the use of Strega - which means witch in Italian.

______________________________________________________

Also, on this day in 1689, William III and Mary II are crowned as joint sovereigns of Britain.

The College of William and Mary was founded in Virginia in 1693.  It educated the Presidents 

Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Tyler and is the second-oldest institution of higher education in the U.S. after Harvard University.  It's also mentioned in song.