Clayton
all the advice you've received is good -- why not, it's from poets who have
learned how to do it,
I would add one word of warning: learn to project, yes, but don't 'act'
your poems (as in all such comments, this may or may not work for you).
This does not mean read in a monotone, but it does mean don't overdo
things. I can recall how often actors on CBC radio have really done major
damage to poems they've been given to read by overacting the emotions they
thought they saw there. Remember: it's the words, first & always. I can
also recall how I worked & worked with an actor to get her to 'read'
Phyllis Webb's great "Naked Poems' subtly enough in an evening of poetry
perfomance years ago. I often find that understatement of performance works
best...
Douglas Barbour
Department of English
University of Alberta
Edmonton Alberta Canada T6G 2E5
(h) [780] 436 3320 (b) [780] 492 0521
http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/dbhome.htm
How, but thru a monstrous 'specialism', the so-called authority
of erstwhile 'professionals', have we come to leave
_breath_ out of images and _images_ out of breath, anyhow?
Roy Kiyooka
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