Marathon reading of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass


leavesofgrass_kildee_06
Carsonville senior Gino Fracassa, left, and poetry professor Jeffrey Bean, center, listen as creative writing professor Robert Fanning, right, reads an excerpt aloud during the 7th annual Walt Whitman "Leaves of Grass" Marathon Reading at the Fabiano Botanical Garden on Friday. Participants took turns reading sections of the famous work composed of over 400 poems. (Katy Kildee | Staff Photographer)

Starting at sunrise in the Fabiano Botanical Gardens, Central Michigan University students gathered Friday morning for the seventh annual reading of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.

Leaves of Grass, a collection of poetry by American poet Walt Whitman, was published for the first time in 1855. The reading continued through the day until the entire book had been read aloud.

Robert Fanning, the event coordinator and an assistant professor of English language and literature, explained the original idea for the reading came from a discussion in one of his classes.

“The idea came up in one of my classes when we were discussing Leaves of Grass and how much we love it,” he said. “Some of my students suggested we host a reading where we read through the entire collection, and now here we are seven years later.”

The reading is always held on the last Friday in September and is very loosely structured, Fanning said. There are no sign-ups or an official list of people who read. Attendees simply read as much as they are comfortable with, and then someone else picks up where they left off. The event continues until the entire book is read.

“We broke our record for the sunrise crowd this year,” Fanning said. “We started with about fifteen people in the morning, and even more showed up after that.”

The crowd varied throughout the day, with some people bringing blankets and chairs and others staying to hear only a few poems.

“With literature, we discuss and dissect it as something that is not living,” Fanning said. “We sometimes forget about the simple pleasure of it. These poems are meant to be read and heard aloud.”

Elizabeth O’Donnell, a Boyne City freshman, chose to attend the reading because of her love for the poems being read.

“I’ve always been a huge fan of Walt Whitman and this was a really cool opportunity to hear his poems presented in a new way,” she said.

Evan Wittenbach, a Rockford freshman, in attendance said the event could help people gain a new appreciation for the poems of Walt Whitman.

“A lot of people are familiar with the work of Whitman, he said. He is a very well-known poet, but going to an event like this and hearing the book read from the start helps you see how beautiful the poems really are,”

Share: