I saw Ruth Padel reading a long narrative poem in London and had real
trouble not falling asleep. There was a young black woman next to me
who had come to the reading out of curiosity; she had never been to a
poetry reading before. She really enjoyed Padel's performance. For
me, the performance was maybe the most tedious part of the whole
reading: practised and polished, with gestures I was sure had been
rehearsed in a mirror, and devoid of all real spontaneity.
Which is where the question of "sexiness" comes in, I guess. This
was a reading which had Maggie O'Farrell's quote behind it in a kind
of coy self awareness, a subdued flirt with the audience dependent on
a certain complicity (look at little ol' me!) So I actually can't
disagree with Spence: the whole persona played into that particular
syndrome. It's a certain attitude which is relatively common among
woman presenting themselves in public and it stems from an
insecurity, just as there are certain kinds of male poets who mumble
to the floor. The poetry itself was kind of like knitting.
But some people, like the woman next to me, _like_ knitting. And
perhaps, if they continue to like knitting, they might move on to
something more interesting. Or perhaps not. What is certain is that
one can't legislate what people will like, and if one disagrees,
well, maybe it's better just to get on with what one _does_ like.
It's all about "success", isn't it? I tend to agree with Giacometti,
that success and failure are secondary.
Best
Alison
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Alison Croggon
Home page
http://www.users.bigpond.com/acroggon/
Masthead Online
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