SUMMER FUN

Bly, Bly, love

By Sam Pfeifle

This may come a little late for those looking to book a summer vacation, but Robert Bly’s Conference on the Great Mother and the New Father is coming to Maine June 2. Now in its 27th year, the conference is moving from its recent home on Orcas Island, off the coast of Seattle, back to its roots here in Maine.

“The first conferences we had were in Maine,” says Bly, “then we moved to the West and the Midwest, but the one we had in Maine we loved the most. We loved the landscape and the feeling in Maine. I mean, if you’re from Kansas and then you go to Maine, whoah.”

Bly is a poet of the highest caliber, who gained most of his fame for Iron John, a sort of self-assurance guide for men that started the now-basically abandoned men’s movement of the mid-’90s. For him, the ongoing conferences are both a labor of love and a reaction to his perception that mainstream education is ignoring spirituality and its place in academia. He has retained those who joined him in the mid-’70s to talk about mythology and continues to gather new recruits.

“A lot of young people are coming in,” says Bly, “as it becomes more and more difficult to find subjects of this kind that are not treated in the academic way.”

This year, the conference will tackle 13th-century Spain, a confluence of Jewish, Arabic, and Christian culture that was split apart when the Arabs were driven out, and has never since been so free of contention. However, they will try to keep politics out of the mix, rather focusing on art forms like Flamenco, which evolved during this time period.

To that end, la Conja Abdessalam will lead attendees in flamenco dancing and singing; while poet and translator Coleman Banrs, Guatemalan Kiché poet Humberto Ak’abal, healer Martín Prechtel (author of the successful Secrets of the Talking Jaguar), storyteller Gioia Timpanelli, and Persian classical musician Reza Derakshani fill out the bill. Bly hopes these performers accurately represent the cooperative spirit of the 13th-century, and help to uplift attendees.

“I noticed a certain depression after Bush got elected,” says Bly. He says he’s spoken with a number of activist organizations, and “They’ve noticed a 30 percent drop off in the last month. People are dispirited. So we’re going to go on despite the son of a bitch. We can’t lose the joy of the United States. That’s not right.”

No quick hitter, the conference lasts a full eight days, on the lovely shores of Lake Damariscotta , at Camp Kieve in Nobleboro. For a total package that includes food and lodging, call Craig Ungerman at (877) 333-3136, and maybe he can sneak you in.

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