Enjoy folk songs from 'The American Songbag' as part of Carl Sandburg tribute

As part of National Poetry Month, enjoy a tribute to Illinois' great poet, Carl Sandburg, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, April 16, at the Geneva Public Library, 127 James St.

Phil Passen will play his hammered dulcimer and sing some wonderful familiar and not-so-familiar folk songs from "The American Songbag," an anthology of American folk songs.

According to Passen, Sandburg was an avid collector of folk songs from all over the United States and performed folk songs, accompanying himself on the guitar, at his poetry readings. In 1927, he published this collection of 255 songs, with words, music, and a little history of each song. In Passen's program, he performs songs such as "Boll Weevil," "I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago," "Frog Went a Courting," "The Sloop John B," "Red River Valley," "C.C. Rider," "Ain't Gonna Study War No More," and others, all from Sandburg's book.

His latest CD is "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp: Music of the Civil War on Hammered Dulcimer," a solo recording of music commemorating the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War. To learn more about Passen, visit www.philpassen.com.

To register, call (630) 232-0780 or visit www.gpld.org.

Also as part of National Poetry Month, William Pack will tell the remarkable stories of four significant Illinois poets as part of "Book & Bag It: Prairie Poetry" from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 6. Featured poets are Vachel Lindsay, Edgar Lee Masters, Carl Sandburg, and Gwendolyn Brooks. Pack will share some of their finest writing.