Musicians, poets toast Robert Burns
BY MARLI GUZZETTA
When Molly Anderson assumed her position as Director of the Atheneum, she noticed almost immediately a bust on a shelf over the circulation desk, mislabeled with a yellow Post-it note as some British poet. The likeness was that of Robert Burns - 18th century Scottish poet and songwriter and author of "Auld Lang Syne." He is a man credited with saving the Scotch vernacular, and since his death, good Scottish families - including Anderson's - have been having Robert Burns dinners as a celebration of his life and of all things Celtic. No, a mislabeled yellow Postit would not do. Anderson bought the bust its own tartan, and, last year, the Atheneum staff hosted an official Robert Burns dinner, completed with poetry readings and imported haggis. The former was much more popular than the latter.

Atheneum Director Molly Anderson with the bust of beloved Scottish poet Robert Burns.

So this year, the Atheneum and the Nantucket Poetry Slam have created a new take on an old tradition. Over a dozen Nantucket writers, artists and musicians will gather in the Atheneum's Great Hall this Saturday for a Celtic céilidh - a social meeting with music - in honor of Burns. Readers will recite Burns' poetry, and the musicians, including Amy England, Mollie Glazer, Eric Wendelken, Greta Feeney and Martha Campbell, will perform Celtic music by Burns and from his lifetime.

Though Web sites like RobertBurns.org exist in large part to perpetuate the scripted traditions of Robert Burns dinners, it's appropriate to break the rules a little in Burns' honor. At a time when England's cultural hegemony was spreading, Burns' stubborn inclusion of Scottish colloquialisms in his writing was an act of defiance, according to Len Germinara, who will emcee the event.

"He immortalized in his poetry words that were passing from usage, language that was to them what hiphop is today, and it was beset," Germinara said. "So he immortalized them through meter and sound."

Irish native and Nantucket poet Frank Cunningham remembered that his grade school teachers taught Burns as a sympathetic hero of the Celts.

"Being that his country was subjugated by England, what he talked about nationalistically, we kind of felt a bit too," said Cunningham, who will also read during the Burns tribute. "He was a poet of the people."

He was also a farmer, a revolutionary, and the father of many, many illegitimate children. But first and foremost, he was an artist whose attempts to preserve the local made a difference on the world stage.

The turnout of Nantucketers willing to be involved in the tribute has been pretty tremendous. Readers will include Germinara, Cunningham, David Kopko, Anne Beaulieu, Sarah Oktay and poet Adam Stone.

"A lot of people turned out to participate," said Germinara, who is half Scottish. "Especially when we told them there wouldn't be haggis."

When: Saturday, Jan. 27, 6 p.m. Where: Nantucket Atheneum

(Great Hall), 1 India Street Cost: Free For more information,

call 228-1110. I