Mathematical language can heighten the imagery of a poem; mathematical structure can deepen its effect. Feast here on an international menu of poems made rich by mathematical ingredients . . . . . . . gathered by JoAnne Growney. To receive email notifications of new postings, contact JoAnne at joannegrowney@gmail.com.
In a recent NYTimes article I have learned of the passing of poet-mathematician Jacques Robaud (1932-2024) who was a key figure in the development of OULIPO (an organization that has explored writing using a variety of constraints). Here is a link to Robaud's poem "Amsterdam Street."
Today's Washington Post offers the obituary poet and scientist Myra Sklarew (1934-2024). Sklarew was a DC resident and activist -- and is featured in these past postings in this blog.
As the year ends, I am conscious of how quickly time seems to pass for me -- and this morning I found this thoughtful quote on Facebook (posted by Dead Poet -- visit this site and find lots more, often mathy, quotes) . . .
Christmas is coming and my thoughts are focused on gifts for grandchildren and family celebrations but I want to take a few minutes to share a Tibetan proverb shared by my friend Lisa Martin on Facebook -- and a wonderful idea to consider.
I much admire the work of Nikki Giovanni -- a poet who spoke both fearlessly and eloquently. As she deserved, her life was big news in the Washington Post -- I learned of her passing (on December 9) in a front-page article that celebrated her work and her person. Another informative Post tribute to Giovanni is available here -- and a rich sampling of her poetry is available here at PoetryFoundation.org.
Giovanni has not included math ideas in many of her poems but I did find some counting in "The Way I Feel" -- sampled in this blog at this link -- and I offer below a few lines from "Balances"; Giovaanni's complete poem is available here.
One of the important and wonderful organizations to which I belong is the Association for Women in Mathematics -- and each year AWM conducts an essay contest -- an opportunity for students to interview a math-woman and write about it. Three categories of entries are open -- for middle school, high school, and college students, Essays are being accepted now and until February 1, 2025. More information is available here.
The Association for Women in Mathematics was established in 1971 -- after I had completed my school years as a lonely math-girl. I celebrate the changes that bring women to equality in mathematics -- but sometimes also remember the past; the poem below is a comment on my high school and college days.
What Math Teachers Do
This message is for middle-school, high school and college students --
write a MATHY POEM, enter it in this contest:
American Mathematical Society
Math-Poetry Contest Announcement
This link leads to contest information and rules for submission.
The AMS Poetry Contest was first held in 2019; here's the Middle School winner:
For me, postings on X (Twitter) are a frequent source of math-poetry news. Today I found this:
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| This link leads to information about Stange's award. |
A wonderful feature of the Internet is the opportunity it offers for rapid connection with ideas from people around the world -- and I have found delight in mathy poems from Africa, Australia, Canada, China, India . . . and many other places. Today's poem comes from poet Marian Christie -- who grew up in Zimbabwe and now lives in Kent, England (and has been other places in-between). (Here is a link to previous mentions of Christie's work in this blog.)
Here, below, is a screenshot of a poem by Christie that she posted recently on X (Twitter) (@marian_v_o) -- her poetic interpretation of the Pythagorean Theorem:
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