Sterling Plumpp Story - November 2007

Award-winning poet shares writings, inspirations, with audience
By Jasmine Stein

Staff Reporter

Publication Date: 11/09/2007

While reading his poetry with his eyes tightly shut, he remembered 1945.

Sterling Plumpp, an award-winning poet, was brought to Purdue Thursday by the Black Cultural Center to perform his blues- and jazz-inspired poetry in person.

Plumpp shared poetry that paid homage to his childhood, favorite musicians and even his mother.

Plumpp described the poem that he wrote to his mother as an outlet that helped express what he needed to say to her.

"When a parent dies, it's almost like looking up in the sky, and the moon or the sun is not there," Plumpp said.

Juanita Crider, program adviser for the BCC, said she couldn't think of anyone whose work and life better reflected the blues than Plumpp.

"I am partial to the bad news, because the good times won't let you grow," Plumpp said.

Plumpp went on to discuss the process of writing as a poet and compared it to the work of a painter.

"I am more of a painter than a photographer. If you're a writer, you should stay in the process of writing until it is right."

Joseph Dorsey, a professor of history and African-American studies, thanked Plumpp for the influence Plumpp had on him as his first African-Americans studies professor at the University of Illinois. Plumpp's influence led Dorsey to seek the same profession at Purdue.

Dorsey said he was most touched by Plumpp's take on the "cultural rhythms of poetry, as a fan and as a creator."

Plumpp's poetry centered around culture, ranging from the cotton fields of Mississippi to the jazz clubs of Chicago.

"For me, African-American is a culture. For some people maybe it's a color, but the only thing you know is the world you come up in," Plumpp said.

Plumpp shared a story with the audience about a Chicago musician who wouldn't open his eyes until the show was over, saying that "all the greats close their eyes".

Plumpp opened his eyes once his poem had ended and admitted to an eager audience,
"I'm not just saying this because I'm here, but I have long pulled for the Boilermakers."