SARANAC LAKE — Samantha Thornhill calls Pablo Neruda her baby daddy of poetry.
His odes inspire her so much. She's writing a collection of them, little meditations on the world.
"I'm in a place in my life (that) I'm giving thanks," said Thornhill, who lives in Brooklyn. "I'm being mindful of the experiences of everyday objects. It's important to name our world."
In 2007, Scholastic asked her to write an ode for a picture book about Odetta, the singer/actress/guitarist/human-rights activist often referred to as the Queen of Folk.
"This picture book is beautifully illustrated," Thornhill said. "That's coming out in December. That's very exciting. I'm getting all these e-mails. I got a starred review in Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal. My parents are very proud. The book, "Ode to Little Odetta," is featured on the cover of Booklist next month. I'm really excited about it."
At 7 p.m. tonight in Bluseed Studios, Thornhill shares a stage with spoken-word poets Roger Bonair-Agard, also of Brooklyn, and Rachel Mckibbens of Chicago. The free event, dubbed "WORD!," is sponsored by the Adirondack Center for Writing.
"Roger and I go back," Thornhill said. "He's like my brother. We met in '98. I'm very excited to spend a little time with him. He's definitely one of my closest friends."
Thornhill and Bonair-Agard are linked by their Trinidadian-and-Tobago ancestry. Her paternal lineage includes a continuum of teachers.
"My grandparents started a school in Trinidad. That was my foundation."
A private child, she wrote poems in her room. She shared an occasional poem here and there. At Florida State University, her parents wanted her to major in psychology. She said no and majored in creative writing.
"Once they saw me performing, it became tangible. They didn't really know what I was doing. It was abstract. They don't know where it came from. Nobody in my family has the role of being an artist."
WILD CARD
Thornhill was encouraged by her sixth-grade teacher to write a poem about Christmas. That was the first time someone suggested she write in a creative sense.
"That's the class that got me started."
At Florida State University, she joined BackTalk! Poetry Troupe. Upon graduation, she received a full fellowship from the University of Virginia, where she earned her Master of Fine Arts in poetry. She coached Virginia's Slam Team to two consecutive regional victories.
"I fell into slam," Thornhill said. "I lived a poetic double life. I was pursuing my craft in the high walls of academia and getting into my car and driving to Norfolk, Va. That's where I started slamming. I really honed my stage craft. I'm not really a slam poet. I did it two years, and I had a great time. Those are the best times I have had in my short poetry life."
It ranks up there with poetry workshops around the kitchen table of her UV professor Rita Dove.
"She's an amazing teacher. She cares about it. She does these exercises called wild card. It's a craft assignment for you based on what she sees on your writing. She crafts an assignment to challenge you. It's one of a kind and no one gets what you get."
CAVE CANEM
Thornhill teaches poetry to actors at the Juilliard School. She's also a writer-in residence at the Bronx Academy of Letters.
"Teaching poetry is a matter of being an ambassador of my art. When I teach, I really want to get people turned on by poetry, like yeah, this is not some archaic craft. It's vital to you and your life. My friend Kenneth Foster says to teach is to learn twice. I wouldn't say teaching directly inspires my craft, but how does it not— I learn more about poems when I'm in a classroom with people." Her writing community includes Cave Canem, Soul Mountain Writer's Retreat, Hedgebrook Retreat for Women Writers and Squaw Valley Writers Retreat.
She first heard about Cave Canem, founded by Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady, from Harryette Mullen. Thornhill met her at the UCLA Summer Research Internship. Next, CC passed the lips of sister Trinidadian R. Erica Doyle. Then Tonya Hegamin also mentioned the retreat/workshop for black poetry.
"All right, I have to apply," Thornhill said. "The way I describe it, it's like you're writing in a dark room and someone flips on the light and you say, 'Oh, you're here, too. Toi and Cornelius flipped that switch. That's how I feel about CC. Now, 90 percent of my best friends are CC. It's a lifelong friendship, definitely a sense of belonging. It's home."
TRAVEL BUG
Recently, she accompanied Bob Holman to the Budapest Slam.
"They finally got funding this year to bring American-based artists across to give slam more context. Slam started here 20 years ago. In Budapest, it is really new."
She learned that Budapest is actually two places, one hilly and the other flat, separated by the Danube River. Two hours after landing, she and Holman were whisked off to a press conference on slam. Their lodgings were a castle, and they performed on A-38, an old Ukrainian stone ship on the Danube.
"It was a wonderful experience," Thornhill said. "Bob is a very good person to travel with. It was an auspicious event. I really have the travel bug. This world is too big and interesting. I would like to go to Berlin next summer."
E-mail Robin Caudell at: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com
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