Happy New Year! Hope you had a good Christmas. So far this January, I've been privileged to attend three different writers groups in East Tennessee--Night Writers, Poetry Society of Tennessee,NE, and the Lost State Writers Guild, which is new to me. They met in Kingsport for lunch, and so I got to go. (I don't like to drive at night, but I do have an appointment with an eye doctor to consider my options.) That was delightful. Two of the readers I already knew from the PST-NE. Which brings me to something that's been on my mind for years: How to honor a poet.
In the 1980s, at the MLA convention, I attended a session intended to honor Elizabeth Bishop. I didn't know her poetry very well at that time, but I wanted to learn more. She was there, but she was not reading. She was in the audience. Instead, professors were reading papers analyzing her poetry. If I remember correctly, there was even a musical piece to honor her. But apparently, she didn't feel honored. She left in the middle of the session. She simply walked out.
Compare that to the first time I ever heard Gwendolyn Brooks read. It was at Knoxville College in the 1970s. My friend and I were two of the few white faces in the audience at Coleman Auditorium. The place was packed. But here's the thing. When Gwendolyn Brooks walked on stage, she got a standing ovation before the even opened her mouth. She was already elderly and somewhat feeble, even then. But she read so beautifully. I never knew how to read "We Real Cool" until I heard her. And she told stories. In that poem, there's a line that goes: "we jazz June." She said she heard some critic say this referred to a gang rape of a young woman named June. She laughed. "I was just jazzing up the month of June--no moonlight and roses, please."
I have since learned much more about Elizabeth Bishop's poetry, enought to admire it. I have heard her read, albeit on tape rather than in person. (Her voice is rather flat, surprisingly.) But apparently she shared Ms. Brooks' attitude toward the critics.
How to Honor a Poet: Don't analyze. Just Listen!
In the 1980s, at the MLA convention, I attended a session intended to honor Elizabeth Bishop. I didn't know her poetry very well at that time, but I wanted to learn more. She was there, but she was not reading. She was in the audience. Instead, professors were reading papers analyzing her poetry. If I remember correctly, there was even a musical piece to honor her. But apparently, she didn't feel honored. She left in the middle of the session. She simply walked out.
Compare that to the first time I ever heard Gwendolyn Brooks read. It was at Knoxville College in the 1970s. My friend and I were two of the few white faces in the audience at Coleman Auditorium. The place was packed. But here's the thing. When Gwendolyn Brooks walked on stage, she got a standing ovation before the even opened her mouth. She was already elderly and somewhat feeble, even then. But she read so beautifully. I never knew how to read "We Real Cool" until I heard her. And she told stories. In that poem, there's a line that goes: "we jazz June." She said she heard some critic say this referred to a gang rape of a young woman named June. She laughed. "I was just jazzing up the month of June--no moonlight and roses, please."
I have since learned much more about Elizabeth Bishop's poetry, enought to admire it. I have heard her read, albeit on tape rather than in person. (Her voice is rather flat, surprisingly.) But apparently she shared Ms. Brooks' attitude toward the critics.
How to Honor a Poet: Don't analyze. Just Listen!
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