ROBERT BLY’S 34th ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON
THE GREAT MOTHER AND THE NEW FATHER
"No Remedy But Listening"




May 31- June 8, 2008

Camp Kieve, Nobleboro, Maine.


Try out the new FAQ page listing answers
to your Frequently Asked Questions!

Registration is OPEN !

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This conference owes its continuance
to no institutions or foundations —
It is entirely supported by those who attend.


UPDATE—In 2008 a generous gift from a regular attendee of the Great Mother Conference, given in memory of Betty Thieme, provided scholarships in her name to new and younger people who might not otherwise be able to attend. These have now been awarded. However, a few openings for workstudy remain and workstudy applications can still be considered between now and the Conference."

SPECIAL LINK:
Audio interview on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Powerful Peace Special 5/30/07: Robert Bly — See WERU website: MP3 — streaming "Podcast"

icon for podpress duration 58:11m: Download 26 MB


Please download this flyer and print in color or greyscale on 8 1/2 x 11, or 11 x 14 paper. Then place in coffee shops, or in community posting areas, or university buildings. Thanks!


DOWNLOAD Conference Flyer
in PDF format 220k

Teachers in 2008:


author / storyteller extraordinaire

astrologer and visionary activist

poet, translator, and author

poet & translator of Rumi


poet

poet

poet


poet

poet & teacher

magician & artist teachers [ workshop description ]

Halima & Abraham Sussman

sufi dance [ workshop description ]

musicians of the heart

Susan Schell

authentic movement [ workshop description]

cellist [ workshop description ] [ more ]

David Whetstone

master of sitar

Marcus Wise


master of tablas

morning singing


Theme: "No Remedy But Listening"

The Great Mother Conference community has met for over 30 years, each year seeking new ways to attend to the soul of the world. The theme for the Conference this year is "No remedy but listening," and we will be focusing on the power of listening to both nourish and to heal.

Gioia Timpanelli, the red-shinned hawk of storytelling, will each day tell a part of the Grimm Brothers’ tale "The Water of Life." Robert Bly, Conference founder, will read new poems in the ghazal form perfected by the Muslim poets. Coleman Barks will share with us both his own poems as well as his exuberant translations of Rumi. Caroline Casey, the purple coyote of astrology, will offer each day her inspiring news of current political and heavenly alignments. Tabla player Marcus Wise and sitar player David Whetstone will bring to us the living tradition of Indian ecstatic music. The Frantzich Brothers will energize us with their music and will also teach workshops bringing out the singer within each of us.

Poets Marie Howe, Cornelius Eady, Li-Young Lee and Valzhyna Mort will be with us this year, reading their own poems and also teaching workshops. Doug von Koss will help us both in the morning and throughout the day to build a temple of melodious sound. Halima and Abraham Sussman, teachers of Sufi dance and song, will guide us in rituals of ecstatic movement. Cellist David Darling will share with us the deep beauty of that instrument; teacher Susan Schell will guide us in exploring moving authentically. Dream-workers and art-teachers Tom Verner and Janet Fredericks will teach a dream workshop this year, helping us to bring those mysterious voices into the day-world. Please join us as we explore the rewards of listening deeply, discovering new ways to nourish both our own souls, and the soul of the world.





CONFERENCE SITE

This year in 2008, the 34th Annual Conference will be held once again at Camp Kieve. The Camp has many cabins which sit on 200 wooded acres and three miles of shoreline on a peninsula at the mid-point of the length of Damariscotta Lake, in Nobleboro, Maine, 60 miles northeast of Portland.



The accommodations are simple with a communal orientation, and feature some recently completed group lodgings. The surrounding natural environment is beautiful and the water pristine.

For more information about Camp Kieve,
please visit their website or check the FAQ page





What people are saying about this conference:


I always feel like a kid in a candy store...feasting on a bounty of poetry, music, and friendship. There is too much to do to find time for sleep. The GMC is nine fabulous days and nights in mytho-poetic space with poets, writers, artists, teachers, and musicians from all over the world.

--Gus

I attended the GMC for the first time in 2006 and returned in 2007. Conference members have become a personal and professional family for me; we help each other with writing and form friendships which nourish our souls. My husband plans to attend this year, and our son and daughter also hope to join this beautiful group.

--Priscilla Carr

Canoing at night. Fog. Loons. Poems echoing through my bones. Laughter. Tears. The old ones. The young ones. Hope. Friends. Dancing. Learning. Spirit. Song. Together. Real.

--Timothy Frantzich


As two people who have attended The Great Mother Conference from the beginning as a couple, we are grateful for how this community has enabled us to grow both in our relationship and in our work as artists. The conference has become an extended family which we return to with delight each year to sing, write, listen, and shore ourselves up for the long year of political and community work ahead.

--Ann Arbor and John Rosenwald



I used to alternate years between attending the Great Mother Conference and going to a national men's conference --but each year the Great Mother Conferences became more important to me, and now I rarely miss one. The interactions with poets, the wonderful group singing, the serious attempts to understand Islam through it's music, enhanced by living closer to nature, with small groups fostering deeper sharing --it's a remarkable blend, adding up to a powerful experience.





ROBERT BLY’S 34th ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON
THE GREAT MOTHER AND THE NEW FATHER

THEME | TEACHERS | TESTIMONIALS | FAQ | REGISTRATION | WORKSHOPS | WORK STUDY | POEMS | FACILITIES | ARCHIVE



Stealing Sugar from the Castle

We are poor students who stay after school to study joy.
We are like those birds in the India mountains.
I am a widow whose child is her only joy.

The only thing I hold in my ant-like head
Is the builder's plan of the castle of sugar.
just to steal one grain of sugar is a joy!

Like a bird, we fly out of darkness into the hall,
Which is lit with singing, then fly out again.
Being shut out of the warm hall is also a joy.

I am a laggard, a loafer, and an idiot. But I love
To read about those who caught one glimpse
Of the Face, and died twenty years later in joy.

I don't mind your saying I will die soon.
Even in the sound of the word soon, I hear
The word you which begins every sentence of joy.

"You're a thief!" the judge said. "Let's see
Your hands!" I showed my callused hands in court.
My sentence was a thousand years of joy.

copyright ©2005 — Robert Bly


Additional links of interest:

The Wind Isn't Depressed: Robert Bly Talks With Michael Ventura About Art, Madness, And The Joy Of Loss in the Sun Magazine -

Call and Answer- a poem by Robert Bly
The Greek Ships- a poem by Robert Bly
Growing Wings a poem by Robert Bly
Stealing Sugar from the Castle a poem by Robert Bly

editorial by Robert By on election

Robert Bly Radio interview
Some text transciption online plus audio interview
(requires Real Player) on the web at: http://www.cortlandreview.com/features/06/winter/robert_bly.html

Coleman Barks—www.colemanbarks.com
Doug von Koss—www.dougvonkoss.com
Marie Howe — blueflowerarts.com/mhowe.html
Cornelius Eady— blueflowerarts.com/ceady.html
Valzhyna Mort— blueflowerarts.com/vmort.html
Tom Verner & Janet Fredericks— magicianswithoutborders.org
Janet Fredericks —janetfredericks.com/
David Darling — daviddarling.com/
— musicforpeople.org/bios.html


The Conference

Conference participants who work with the visual arts will have an opportunity to show their work in a Conference gallery.

During these ten days we will have a taste of what it is like to live in a community of women and men who have raised their voices already in acts of resistance, through painting, poetry, thought and storytelling. The conference as usual will give thanks to many who are gone, including William Stafford, Etheridge Knight, Marie Louise von Franz, and Joseph Campbell. Children are welcome. We have teachers who work specifically with projects for children and teens.

See the FAQ page for more information on the conference history


Diversity / Work-study:

A variety of work-study positions are still available!
Please go to the FAQ page for details.

to go to the Frequently Asked Questions page click here

All Scholarships have been awarded as of May 1st:

UPDATE—In 2008 a generous gift from a regular attendee of the Great Mother Conference, given in memory of Betty Thieme, provided scholarships in her name to new and younger people who might not otherwise be able to attend. These have now been awarded. However, a few openings for workstudy remain and workstudy applications can still be considered between now and the Conference."





Please download this flyer and print in color or greyscale on 8 1/2 x 11, or 11 x 14 paper. Then place in coffee shops, or in community posting areas, or university buildings. Thanks!


DOWNLOAD Conference Flyer in PDF format 220k


Past Conference information and links:



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