San Jose State exalts its tradition of poetry

“It’s kind of amusing,” said Alan Soldofsky, a poet who founded the San Jose State master’s in creative writing program in 2000 and continues as director.

The event helped the committee inspire the university to pass a resolution to create an annual celebration of its poetic legacy — one that already lives on in lines by Markham and Meade that adorn plaques throughout the campus.

In addition to the faculty, student and staff reading, there will be a poet laureates reading featuring many local laureates and culminating with a reading by U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera.

Any chance to hear the nation’s poet laureate is a special occasion, but this event is historically significant.

The legacy at San Jose State essentially begins when Markham’s 1899 poem highlighting the brutality of farm work, “The Man With the Hoe,” was printed in the San Francisco Examiner and promptly reprinted around the world.

Markham became famous and gave lectures to labor groups as often as he gave poetry readings.

Markham’s legacy helped establish at San Jose State an enduring connection between poetry and the working class — a connection encapsulated by Herrera’s poetry, which is heavily influenced by his experiences as the child of migrant workers.

Among those joining him are Young; San Francisco Poet Laureate Alejandro Murguía; Nils Peterson, founder of Poetry Center San Jose and the first Santa Clara County poet laureate; and San Jose State faculty member Sally Ashton, who recently completed her term as Santa Clara County’s second poet laureate.

The Featherboard Writing Series presents readings and a new chapbook by Kate Folk, Joel Gregory and Tomas Moniz, all inspired by Alex Oslance’s solo exhibition at Aggregate Space, “Hypertrophic Distress” (6 p.m. Saturday, May 7, 801 W. Grand Ave., Oakland, free). www.facebook.com/events/263319640669409