Newman University Professor of English Bryan Dietrich, Ph.D. was recently contacted about using his poem “Gotham Wanes” on the BBC Radio 4 program “Something Understood.” The show, which explores spiritual and religious themes through poetry, prose and music, wants to use the poem on an upcoming episode about the Lamed vav Zaddikim, a Jewish legend that 36 righteous people in every generation keep the world turning, although no one knows who they are as their identities are hidden.
The program will be presented by John McCarthy and will feature an interview with the philosopher Oliver Leaman. Dietrich’s poem is to be read by an actor and fully credited to the author.
The Hebrew-Yiddish expression Lamed-Vavnik literally means a “thirty-sixer.” According to the legend, the 36 often conceal their identity behind a mask of ignorance and poverty. “Gotham Wanes,” originally published in the October 2011 issue of Poetry Magazine, looks at the masks people have worn in “Every culture, every eon,” to hide or project various elements. The poem will be presented in the section of the show that examines the importance of masks in the Lamed vav Zaddikim.
“Something Understood” is produced by Whistledown Productions Ltd. , London. The Lamed vav Zaddikim show will be broadcast nationally in the UK and will be available for a week on the “Something Understood” web site. Airtime for the show is yet to be determined.
To learn more about “Something Understood” visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qn7f.
Bryan D. Dietrich is the author of six books of poems: Krypton Nights, Universal Monsters, Prime Directive, Love Craft, The Assumption, and The Monstrance. He is also co-editor of Drawn to Marvel, an anthology of superhero poetry, and president of the Science Fiction Poetry Association. He has published poems in numerous magazines and journals, and received many awards for his work.
To learn more about Dietrich visit http://www.bryandietrich.com.
