On Thursday, September 30th at 12:00 pm Hawai‘i (3:00 pm Pacific, 6:00 pm Eastern), we gathered virtually with friends around the world to celebrate the legacy of W.S. Merwin on the occasion of his birthday, and to share our vision for carrying that legacy forward. The event was very well attended, with hundreds of people tuning in from around the globe. Garden of Verses, a one hour program, is available for all who missed it through the end of October you can sign in to watch the replay on-demand.
Puanani Burgess, Forrest Gander, Jorie Graham, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Paul Holdengräber, Ada Limón, Christopher Merrill, Matthew Zapruder, and Kevin Young will read selections of William’s poetry. They will be joined by other special guests soon to be announced.
In Garden of Verses, we share glimpses of the newly restored house and garden dojo, all set to music recorded by award-winning composer, singer-songwriter and slack-key guitarist Makana.
The Merwins’ house, the garden dojo, the garden itself were made of concerns enacted as ways of being and living. We hope you will join us for an hour to celebrate and support The Merwin Conservancy’s commitment to tending this special place in perpetuity.
Again, if you missed the live broadcast, you can watch the replay by signing in below.
The event graphic features a portion of an illustration by Chris Turnham that will be included in the forthcoming childrens’ book The Poem Forest: Poet W. S. Merwin and the Palm Tree Forest He Grew from Scratch by Carrie Fountain and Chris Turnham. The book is being published by Candlewick Press and will be released in May 2022.
