tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37627577.post5246493147569384245..comments2024-02-12T16:32:03.714-08:00Comments on Book of Kells: Sunday Poetry Reading: A ResponseKelli Russell Agodon - Book of Kellshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01798460634708905783noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37627577.post-5614763749256864572008-09-22T07:47:00.000-07:002008-09-22T07:47:00.000-07:00If the reader is a poet or iction/nonfiction write...If the reader is a poet or iction/nonfiction writer, I've heard read multiple times (full time faculty at my MFA program, for example) I don't want the same stuff as the prior semester. Make it new. I have heard the same piece about a kitchen appliance 4 times in 2 years during MFA program readings. <BR/><BR/>I really like poets who will tell you necessary details before the poem, but sometimes the buildup is so thrilling that I get lost in the introduction and not in the poem.Pamela Johnson Parkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06637447850820805268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37627577.post-55083759825956584862008-09-20T14:27:00.000-07:002008-09-20T14:27:00.000-07:00I don't mind when poets introduce poems, but I do ...I don't mind when poets introduce poems, but I do actually prefer it when the poems can stand on their own, without introduction. <BR/><BR/>[But then I'm an old Deadhead, and one of the things I loved about the Grateful Dead was that they hardly ever said anything between songs! :-)]<BR/><BR/>And I agree with Lyle Daggett: paging through things looking for poems is really annoying!Andrew Shieldshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02804655739574694901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37627577.post-71452885612389828532008-09-19T20:07:00.000-07:002008-09-19T20:07:00.000-07:00What draws me in most, when I'm listening to a poe...What draws me in most, when I'm listening to a poet read, is when they seem to be present in the poems they're reading, the poem seems to speak through the poet, the poet's ego has temporarily left the room.<BR/><BR/>I enjoy when poets tell interesting stories or information before or after the poems, though I don't necessarily need for them to do that. (When I read poems to audiences, I tend to say fairly little between the poems, though I don't have a rigid rule about it. If a particular poem needs a word or two to introduce it, or if it might help to transition the mood from one poem to another, then I'll do that.)<BR/><BR/>I like it when poets read poems that seem in some way relevant to something I've experienced or felt or thought at some point or other in my life.<BR/><BR/>I'm really put off by poets who seem amused at their own cleverness or wittiness, always grinning to themselves through the reading.<BR/><BR/>I lose patience quickly with poets who spend more time introducing and explaining a poem than it takes to read the actual poem. (My rule of thumb -- if the introduction or explanation to the poem takes more than 10 percent of the time it takes to read the poem itself, then you need to work on the poem some more, it's not finished yet.)<BR/><BR/>I get impatient with poets who haven't prepared for the reading adequately, e.g. paging through their poems wondering what they should read next. In my experience, poets who do that also frequently go over the time limit.<BR/><BR/>(Of course I also make choices when I'm reading, to read one poem and not another, but I always choose the basic list of poems ahead of time, including a few extra or alternative ones, and I decide quickly as I go along whether to read each poem or skip it and go to the next one.)<BR/><BR/>I dislike it when a writer (a fiction writer, in the case I'm thinking of) does the entire reading looking down at the page and mumbling softly to himself (this while standing at the mike podium), then insults one of the audience members for not being able to hear what he's mumbling. (True story, not pretty.)<BR/><BR/>Or when a poet talks endlessly in a monotone, endlessly explaining what the poem is about, then starts reading the poem with no change in tone or manner whatsoever, so it's impossible to tell when the talk leaves off and the poem begins, and then at the end of the poem, continues with further explanation in the same dry monotone. (Also a true story. I left during the intermission and went home.)Lyle Daggetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10731915540520704368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37627577.post-50758089570039448802008-09-19T18:54:00.000-07:002008-09-19T18:54:00.000-07:00I like stories. I know a poet who has read on the...I like stories. I know a poet who has read on the island, and he told the most amazing story about one of the readings he did there. Stories make the poet seem more real.<BR/><BR/>I do not like the way some poets think they have to be serious and project the so-called image of a poet.<BR/><BR/>It's rare when it happens, but I really hate when I get to a reading and I discover the poet is a worse poet than me. Maybe it's because Idon't get out that much, but it has happened twice I can remember, and it was really annoying to sit and be polite knowing that this 'guy' sucked. I suppose it's how other poets feel when they hear me read my poems.Justin Evanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12161484350184865575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37627577.post-10755179210648081792008-09-19T12:07:00.000-07:002008-09-19T12:07:00.000-07:00I love the talking between poems, but I like when ...I love the talking between poems, but I like when they read the poem first, then talk about it because some poets tend to over explain their poem.Valerie Lovelandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11309299429765944601noreply@blogger.com