Ellington

“Common” doesn’t always equate to “thematic.” And the 2010-11 UW Common Book, You Are Never Where You Are, just goes to show. The collection of poems is a departure from the traditional Common Book formula, for in its text you will not find a running storyline. You won’t even find an overarching theme. The book aims to unite students under the umbrella of written and spoken word; this year it’s about genre first and theme second.

This marks UW’s first year selecting poetry as a medium. With past Common Books that have underscored broad social and environmental issues in novel form, the slim, 46-page poetry ensemble stands in great contrast. But the deciding committee composed of faculty, staff and students proposed that this medium was long overdue and may be exactly what the freshman class needs. Perhaps, the committee believes, students will find it a bit less intimidating.

Sophomore Shelby Handler is among three students on the committee who volunteered their insights during the selection process. As the founder of UW’s poetry slam team, Handler is quick to recognize that poetry is something very personal, and just about anyone can foster a love for it.

“Poetry is definitely not an obvious choice,” Handler said. “It doesn’t really follow that train of thought [past Common Books have]. Instead, it pursues an entirely different medium, one that may not be as grounded in cold, hard facts. It asks them to read a slim collection of poems and perhaps let them inspire their journey to college. Somehow, the responsibility is not quite so heavy and intimidating, but a little more personal, a little more tangible.”

It wasn’t just any poem that was selected, however. In order to compile a successful showcase of poetry, the committee members selected the poems through a process of consensus. A “fist-to-five system” was used in which poems were read aloud and members were asked to rate the poems. Raising a fist indicated “hate it,” and raising five fingers indicated “love it.” If just one person exercised the fist option, discussion ensued. From 170 poems, the list was tapered down to 30.

The three students on the committee (all sophomores), Handler, Sam Kolodezh and Javonna Arriaga, were put in charge of choosing a spoken-word piece for the Common Book. The three decided upon “An Experience in Noise,” by Ken Arkind.

“I’m very excited for Ken,” Arriaga said. “He is a Denver poet who is making his way in the poetry world.”

During the selection process, the student committee members reflected on their own freshman Common Book experience and envisioned something they would have wanted to read.

“Freshmen don’t have to read all of the poems — even though they should, because they are awesome. They can thumb through the tiny book we made and choose what to read, or what they have time to read in the moment,” Arriaga said. “I wish my Common Book was poetry.”

Handler believes that even “thumbing” through the Common Book may be a positive advancement from this past year’s Common Book, Dreams From My Father, which she recalls was neglected altogether by many of her peers.

“It’s to be expected that some students didn’t even bother to crack the spine on it, viewing it as just another silly requirement instead of a chance to connect with a text,” Handler said.

The committee hopes that freshmen will engage more with this text, and that in the absence of a concrete theme, students will form one applicable to themselves. All of the student members share the same vision for the 2010-11 Common Book.

“A successful Common Book should achieve exactly what it suggests,” Kolodezh said. “It should become common. It does not need to unite the campus or scream odes to the college experience. It should simply be something that people can talk about - the college version of Iron Man.”

In the brief description on the backside of You Are Never Where You Are, poet and UW professor Richard Kenney is quoted as saying, “people like poetry like people like music: nobody doesn’t. If some think they don’t, they just haven’t listened to the right thing.” The Common Book committee seems willing to test this theory out.

“Many see poetry as having nothing to do with themselves. It has no lab or conversion table; its absolutes are harder to pin down; it can be seen as shifting and immaterial; its rules are different; they’ve got a little more give to them,” Handler said. “This is a collection for biologists, chemists and electrical engineers as much as it is for English majors, avid readers and poets. I hope our campus can find anthems in them. For the incoming freshmen, a little inspiration ain’t a bad to thing to start a journey with.”

Reach Opinion and Lifestyles Editor Colin Gorenstein at arts@dailyuw.com.