‘To have great poets, there must be great audiences’: Whitmania draws crowd for second annual marathon reading

Words never die. Especially words written by 19th-century poet Walt Whitman. Miami University’s Literature Program in the English Department proved this with a 12-hour continuous reading of Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” on Wednesday, April 24.

The American staple for English classes had students, faculty and community members rising at 8 a.m. to read five minutes from the collection of poems before passing it onto the next person. Over the 12 hours, more than 100 time slots were taken, with many readers signing up for more than one reading.

Michelle Navakas and Patrick Murphy planned the second annual event with help from the English department and administrative staff. They also had 21 volunteers working.

“We wanted to share the power of literature with the rest of the campus,” Navakas said. “We just think that in the literature program, we’re always reading and thinking and analyzing and we wanted to share what we uniquely do in the English department more broadly as well as with the entire campus in a public event.”

Words never die, and apparently, people don’t either. Whitman himself made an appearance at the reading, ogling at the 21st-century inventions and cultural differences. He struggled to understand what ‘rizz’ meant, likening it to his understanding of charisma.

Brian Vogt, a senior creative writing and individualized study major, dressed up as Whitman for the event and was in character for the full 12 hours.

Photo by Taylor Stumbaugh | The Miami Student
Brian Vogt, a senior creative writing and individualized study major, dressed up as Whitman for the event and was in character for the full 12 hours.

“So many people still reading my poems to this day,” Vogt, aka Whitman said. “It's a phenomenal thing because I remember just sitting out in the fields underneath a tree writing, and I never would have imagined that people 100 years from now, from when I was alive, would still be reading my poems.”

A stream of speakers accompanied the event, with only the transition between the volunteers breaking up the poetry. Students and faculty alike stepped up to the podium to put their own spin on the famous poem, including Sam Fouts, a senior creative writing and literature double major.

“I was just reading from the books and yeah, it was fun,” Fouts said. “I think it's a really beautiful poem.”

Fouts only read for 10 minutes from 3:05 to 3:15 p.m. but had been at Ernst since 7 a.m. to set up for the marathon reading. Between mingling with other volunteers and attendees, Fouts also found time to sit back and enjoy the words projecting from speakers at the bottom of the curved stone benches.

“Maybe it's just because I'm exhausted, [but it’s] mesmerizing,” Fouts said. “And so you kind of just … get sucked into it.”

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Photo by Sam Norton | The Miami Student
The crowd ebbed and flowed throughout the day, with close to 50 people in attendance during the middle of the day.

The crowd ebbed and flowed throughout the day, with close to 50 people in attendance during the middle of the day, volunteer Ryan Rosu, a senior triple majoring in English literature, philosophy and film studies, said. During the late afternoon, the crowd quieted down, although several attendees could be found among the volunteers spread around the nature theater.

While not every student can volunteer or attend the whole day, Fouts hopes that more students will see the benefits of stopping by the reading. He was encouraged by the number of attendees, which he believes was greater than the previous year.

Navakas was also happy with the turnout. She said people will come to listen expecting to be there for 10 minutes, but then leave two hours later.

“I wish there were more events for students, faculty, staff, for everybody to be in a place and enjoy literature and other forms of art,” Navakas said, “... that’s the point of college, to have and moments like this to remind you why you’re studying, what you’re doing, what life is like.”

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