Thursday, February 12, 2009

Poetry Forum Calls it Quits

International Poetry Forum Director Dr. Sam Hazo says he is no longer able to keep the Forum alive and has announced that this will be its last season. Hazo says he was forced to make the decision after spending the last 8 months looking for funding. He says grant-making organizations have had to slow their spending in reaction to the economic downturn. He says it would have been dishonest to continue the Forum at a lower level so he announced Wednesday night that it would not continue after the current season, which has two more performances. The Forum began in 1966 and archives of the readings can be found at the Forum’s website. Hazo says he is now focused on keeping that site alive. He says for poetry to be fully appreciated it should be read aloud. He compares it to sheet music that begs to be played. Hazo says he is most proud of how the Forum has grown the audience for live poetry reading in Pittsburgh over the last 43 years and he thanks all of the audience members and past funders for making that possible. quits

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