For the ninth year in a row, Northfielders gathered in Bridge Square to celebrate poetry in our city. While much was familiar, including more than 100 poetry lovers and poets in attendance, able emceeing by Bonnie Jean Flom, of the Northfield Arts and Culture Commission, and the lively song stylings of Northfield’s own band, Bonnie and the Clydes, there were some wonderful new twists.

In the 2019 contest, for the first time, poems were able to submitted in Spanish as well as in English. This year’s judging panel chose ten winning poems, three in Spanish and seven in English. Poems will be imprinted into the sidewalks in the language in which they are submitted, but for the capstone celebration and for the City of Northfield website each poem is available in both languages.

Poet D.E. Green, who has had a total of five winning poems since the program’s inception, translated his own English-language submission into Spanish, and after Doug read his English language poem, the Spanish version was read by his wife, Becky Boling, Emerita Professor of Spanish at Carleton College (and also a poet with several winning Sidewalk Poems.)

The other translations were crafted by Angelica Linder, Outreach Program Coordinator at the Northfield Public Library, who was present to read her translations at the capstone celebration after each poem was read in its original language. Ms. Linder also provided simultaneous translations of remarks made in English throughout the evening. In addition, the musical offerings were in both English and Spanish this year, offering a third way that Spanish and English were blended together.

Since not everyone could be present on August 29, I am rerunning the photograph of those poets who were interviewed in April on Paula Granquist’s KYMN radio program “ArtZany.”

I am amazed to know that in its nine years of existence, this program has attracted a total of more than 1,000 poems from hundreds of people who live in Northfield or attend its schools. Most of these poems were new work, generated specifically in response to the contest. To date, 81 poems by a total of 54 poets have won the right to be impressed into our sidewalks, to be enjoyed by residents and visitors alike. I feel very proud of my city, and very humbled when I think of the many thousands of hours of artistic and volunteer time devoted to this one project on the part of so many, many people who care about poetry, our town, and each other.

Sidewalk Poetry is, for me, a dream come true. I feel so happy that in its ninth year this dream has become enlarged in such a meaningful way. It is a personal thrill to see my own words rendered in the beauty of the Spanish language—something I surely could not do on my own—and it was wonderful to be part of a civic event that embraced and celebrated English and Spanish side-by-side within the context of poetic language and civic enhancement.

Thank you, all! Muchas gracias! Leslie