Light Between Words

by B. W. Powe

Living Literacies began with words, in words – with an idea – in a conversation. Three years ago, John O’Leary and I were talking over lunch. We’d had many conversations before – indeed, it has become almost a ritual for us to do so. But this conversation went in a new direction. We talked about the literacy movement; then suddenly, as if from nowhere, we found ourselves talking about the philosophy of literacy. What we meant by this was:how does literacy move us; what does it mean to have grown up within an alphabetic culture; to what degree has our civilization in the west been shaped by the idea, or ideal, of literacy itself? We thought out loud, to one another: to read and write, speak and interpret, could be part of our legacy of human rights, part of the “civil” in civilization. Then, of course, we recognized that there are many forms of literacy – oral, visual, mathematical, print, cyber. We acknowledged the vigorous, often acrimonious debate that can erupt between furious proponents of the Book and relentless advocates of the E-screen, “being digital.”

John and I were confronted by a plethora of ideas. It was more than an abundance; it was more like a torrent. We felt as if we had tapped some source, a surge through which that one word: “literacy” flowed. Hence we said, and agreed, let’s step into the open; let’s create an event that would let loose those ideas in the public sphere. Let’s see what we could do to summon many powerful minds on this subject. Let’s see what we could do to make the words spring forward, to make our minds flow over that idea, what literacy means.

Thus this conference. I don’t remember who came up with the name, Living Literacies. But from the start we liked its ambiguity: to live through literacy, to recognize still vital legacies, to acknowledge multiform traditions, to attend to the echoing letters in our lives, to be alive in our traditions and our dreams and intimations, our printed and spoken words, our images and our screens, the human energy radiant in our creations. The Latin littera means character – a message. The title implied: We are bearing messages.