There is about a moment at 11AM on weekdays during which the speed of time is clocked slow, a second equalling a minute, so that a single piano intro to a public radio spot called The Writer’s Almanac can enter your morning via the crack between seconds. Garrison Keillor‘s voice has the effect of a soporific, teasing the duty-bound mind to follow its heart – so you’d better get some caffiene in you before hearing it.
If The Writer’s Almanac is already what you do at eleven (at least in Greenville) each morning, you know exactly what I’m talking about. But I am speaking mainly to those who haven’t yet heard an episode of the segment.
Beginning with birthdays of authors and other figures, and events that occured the same day in history, Keillor routes the listener into a reflective state conducive to consuming the main dish – the poem of the day. A theory exists in many forms of art, including poetry, that the meaning of a piece doesn’t only belong to the author, it belongs also – or chiefly – to the reader or the performer. Garrison Keillor certainly takes the poem of the day and breathes into it the power of being spoken, and in one of the most iconic voices of Americana in our time.
In Greenville at 11AM, simply turn your radion to 90.1, which is the local NPR station, or ETV Radio. But The Writer’s Almanac website makes up for geographical constraints, giving potential listeners options like online streaming, podcast download and daily emails.
With so many ways to listen and connect to The Writer’s Almanac, you can have a way to cure the morning blahs and wake up your intellectual parts. And, it’s not just for writers and English majors. After all, poetry is for humans – all humans.