For Global Astronomy Month 2020 (62) - Ten Years from the First GAM Astropoetry Gala

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe and Valentin Grigore

Published: Wednesday, April 29 2020 22:56

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If we forget the past, we risk to lose the future. 

In 2010 the Romanian Society for Meteors and Astronomy (SARM) assumed to make a special GAM program of astropoetry in association with Astronomers Without Borders, for which we received the approval of the AWB founder president Mike Simmons. 

The culminating moment of that project was an astropoetry gala at the Admiral Vasile Urseanu Bucharest Municipal Observatory (the old friend and partner of SARM) in April 29, 2010 - 10 years ago! 

After several cosmopoetry galas which had taken place in this observatory - and included recitals of astropoetry, astrofolk and electronic music, astropoetry dramas, projections and exhibitions of astrophotography -  in between January 2000 and January 2010 -, this time it was just an astropoetry gala, which included individual recitals of astropoetry and a moment of international astropoetry - selected and presented by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe -, adorned by an astroart mini-exhibition given by students from the “Balasa Doamna” Targoviste Art High School. 

That astropoetry gala included also an exceptional international astropoetry mini-library, which consisted of: 

-astronomy popularization books with astronomical poetry quotes from classics: “Les Merveilles Celestes” (in French, edition 1905) by Camille Flammarion (France), “Star Names - Their Lore and Meaning” (republished by the Dover Publications; first edition in 1899) by Richard Hinckley Allen (USA), “More Things In Heaven And Earth” (1997) by David H. Levy (Canada / USA, discoverer of over 20 comets);

-books of essays on the poetry of the Cosmos: “Viziunea Cosmica In Poezia Romaneasca” (The Cosmic Vision in Romanian Poetry - in Romanian, 1982) by Al. Dima (Romania), “Soare, Luna, Luceafar” (Sun, Moon, Evening Star - in Romanian, 1991) by Ion Holban (Republic of Moldova); 

-astronomical poetry anthologies: “Dark Matter - Poems Of Space” (2003)  edited by Maurice Riordan (U.K.) and Jocelyn Bell Burnell (UK, discoverer of the first radio pulsars), “Ora Astropoeziei Romanesti si Astropoezie Pe Piscuri” (Romanian Astropoetry Hour and Astropoetry on the Peaks - in Romanian, 2003) edited by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe and Valentin Grigore (Romania);

-individual astropoetry books: “A Touch Of Poetry” (1999) by David R. Keedy (UK, famous astronomer at the British Astronomical Association), “First Star I See Tonight” (2007) by Robert L. Eklund (USA, coordinator founder of AWB Astropoetry Blog), “Cer, Om, Pamant” (Sky, Man, Earth - in Romanian, 2005) by Zigmund Tauberg (Romania), “Noile Astroproverbe In Versuri Ale Astronautului Sazartinus” (New Versified Astroproverbs of Spaceman Sazartinus - in Romanian, 1997) by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (Romania);

-individual astropoetry books: “A Touch Of Poetry” (1999) by David R. Keedy (UK, famous astronomer at the British Astronomical Association), “First Star I See Tonight” (2007) by Robert L. Eklund (USA, coordinator founder of AWB Astropoetry Blog), “Cer, Om, Pamant” (Sky, Man, Earth - in Romanian, 2005) by Zigmund Tauberg (Romania), “Noile Astroproverbe In Versuri Ale Astronautului Sazartinus” (New Versified Astroproverbs of Spaceman Sazartinus - in Romanian, 1997) by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (Romania);

-an album of personal astrophotography with astropoetry quotes by members of SARM: “Targovistea Cosmica” (Cosmic Targoviste - Romanian  / English bilingual edition,  2007) by Valentin Grigore (Romania). 

Some of the participants remained for a historical group photo, in which we can remark several personalities:

-Mihai Dascalu (observatory telescope specialist), Cristina Tinta Vass (aka Tina Visarian, former national astro-photo-art-poetry laureate), Diana Maria Ogescu (former national astropoetry youth laureate), Alex Conu (international astrophotography laureate and current member of The World At Night), Zigmund Tauberg (age 82, former national astropoetry laureate), Ion(ut) Morarau (former national astro-art-poetry laureate) in the upper row; 

-Adrian Bruno Sonka (observatory coordinator), Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (astropoetry gala coordinator), Valentin Grigore (president of SARM), Catalin Paduraru alias “Sarpe”-Snake (international astrophotography laureate) in the lower row.