Hello, Hugh,
are you already back in Australia?
The reading in Oxford was very successful.The site was beautiful and
the audience enthusiastic. Tom Paulin and Bernard O'Donoughue - it must be
said for their credit - made a wondeful choice of poems for the event and
offered a great performance to the 100 people in the audience (the
auditorium of the Maison Francaise was full). They both agreed to read for
free as all the other poets Lucile Desligneres, Peter Dale and Stephanos
Papadopoulos did (and admisison was free).
(Only a few days later, both Tom Paulin and Bernard O'Donoghue read with
Seamus Heaney at the Sheldonian Theatre (thickets L. 10) in Oxford in front
of an audience of approx. 1000 people, but put - I felt - exactly the same
amount of enthusiasm amd energy in both readings). So, I wish to thank them
and acknowledge their professionality.
At Dialogue Among Cibilizations Through Poetry in Oxford, we enjoied the
presence of the young Chinese musician Michelle Ng who is one of the few
people in the world able to play the antique harp (she playied three magic
pieces). The audience was enchanted by her talent and also by her cute
manners and beauty. The spirit of the eevnt was philosophically entroduced
by Brian R Clack, scholar in Wittgentein, who challenged the idea of
dialogue.
At the end of the poetry reading, there was a 1 hour reception with lots of
bottles of wine (40) offered by my college St Clare's : all the featured
poets staied at the receptions and got to talk to people and other poets
there.
As the organizer, I was very satisfied to see that poeple were enjoing
themselves. As for my 3 poems of choice, I read them in English and I thank
God if two or three poeple among the 100 in the audience got to undertsand
their potential meanings (which is obscure to me in the first place, I must
admit).
This is all. I am so happy to have collaborated with both Ram Devineni and
Larry Jaffe who I became friend with in these last three months of
preparation.
I already e-mailed to Poetryect the address where photos of the event in
Oxford can be viewed , but maybe the site - being loaded with images - is
too slow for those who do not have strong computers. Here it is again,
anyhow. I have reduced the dimension of the pics to make them more
accessible.
http://www.transference.f2s.com/oxforddialogue.htm
.
NB Hugh, I appreciate that you edited your poems to polish your language in
front of the solemnity of the Roman architecture. This reminds me deeply of
the spirit animating the artists travelling to Italy for the Grand Tour.
love, erminia
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