Our History
Literary Liminaries
Border Voices has brought Pulitzer Prize winners, several U.S. poet laureates, and a Nobel Prize winner to San Diego – along with scores of other literary luminaries, and one controversial filmmaker.
The Nobel Prize winner was Poland’s Czeslaw Milosz who appeared in 1998.
The poet laureates included Robert Pinsky (2007); Robert Haas (1997); and Billy Collins (2000 and 2002).
The Pulitzer Prize winners included Gary Snyder, one of the giants of American poetry in the second half of the 20th century.
And we mustn’t forget famed essayist Susan Sontag; controversial filmmaker Michael Moore; and Maya Angelou, who drew an overflow crowd to Cox Arena in 2002. And on and on …
To see the complete list of poets featured at Border Voices poetry fairs since the program started click on the Critically Acclaimed Anthology page.
Also listed are some of the special events held separately from the fair, such as the Milosz and Maya Angelou appearances.
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About Border Voices
The 28-year-old Border Voices Poetry Project banked its future, and its hopes for San Diego kids, on the art of poetry.
Our belief (or suspicion, or theory-based-on-instinct-and-a love-of-words) was that poetry, if introduced into the classroom by talented poets, would inspire kids scholastically and personally. We also thought poetry might lead to increased test scores, though that was never our first goal.
We also suspected that annual literary fairs, featuring literary lights from around the world, would lead kids to dream – re-visioning their futures in ever-more-hopeful ways – while entertaining the general public.
It all worked, far beyond our expectations, beyond even our wildest hopes.
The theory and implementation were validated as Border Voices published data showing “huge and continuing increases in scores on standardized English tests” following Border Voices workshops and related programs at Pershing Middle School. The study also showed that new, cutting-edge methods of teaching creative writing, based on the latest educational theories, increase the positive effects, and that teachers tend to adopt these Border Voices methods after the poets leave.
Although the Pershing workshops and related study (funded by the California Art Council) received the most attention in the media and the schools, Border Voices especially prides itself on sending talented and caring poets into schools districts throughout San Diego County. The kids’ resulting enthusiasm can be seen on our weekly TV show, and in our annual anthologies.
In 2007, we published The Best of Border Voices, a collection of the best poems and essays from the first 14 years of the project.
Finally, in late 2009, Border Voices received a singular honor from the state of California. Its director, Jack Webb, was invited to join the governor’s committee to help select the next poet laureate of California. Also appointed to the panel were Robert Hass, former U.S. poet laureate; Susan Hildredth, state librarian of California; Dr. Opal Palmer Adisa, Jamaican-born author of It Begins With Tears; & Jack Hicks, former director of the Graduate Creative Writing Program, UC Davis.
How It Started
In February 1993, the man who was to become the founder-director of Border Voices met with two of the most influential people in San Diego. He wanted to discuss getting more poetry into San Diego classrooms.
The man was Jack Webb, and his message was simple – that poetry is a tool for being more human in difficult times. It is also the foundation of the literary arts, of self-understanding, and of future achievement.
One of the people he met was Helen Copley, publisher-owner of The San Diego Union-Tribune, who became a pivotal figure in the rapid development of the project. A few days before, he’d met David Hermanson, founder-director of the Gifted and Talented Education Program for San Diego City Schools. After hearing Webb’s proposal, Hermanson agreed to place poets in San Diego classrooms, and urged Webb to discuss the project with Mrs. Copley. “Let’s dream a little,” he said.
Later meetings brought San Diego State University on board, as well as the city of San Diego, the Padres baseball team, and many others.
In one year, student poems from the newly founded Border Voices Poetry Project were appearing on city buses; March 1994 was named Poetry Month in San Diego in honor of Border Voices; and the Union-Tribune was publishing numerous articles as well as donating full-page color ads featuring student poetry. The first poetry fair drew 2,000 people. Later fairs drew a capacity crowd when held at the 12,000-seat Viejas Arena.
Border Voices Poetry Program 