Although I'm not a great fan of Heaney & am a great fan of Creeley, I
must disagree about both, at least in terms of my experience. The time
I've heard Heaney read I enjoyed his presence & his reading, but have
to add that most of the audience were also in a worshipping mode. The
one time I heard Creeley read, to an audience of about a thousand, he
turned that huge crowd into a couple of people across a small table in
someone's living room, & presented a sense of intimacy that was
amazing. Indeed, that is one of the greatest readings I have ever
attended, & I have attended a lot.
I do agree that it helps if you know some of the poet's work, even if
not the poems s/he is reading that day.
Doug
On 6-Mar-05, at 5:46 AM, Thomas Fallon wrote:
> If I am hearing a poem for the first time, I have a difficult time
> understanding it as it is read by the poet. It is there and then
> gone. The spoken word does fly. I do not have the necessary
> time to think about the poem which has some depth of thought
> so I lose the poem completely.
>
> Most poets I've heard, including Seamus Heaney and Robert
> Creeley, do not read well. I don't really care if they do, but
> think they should educate themselves for their readers' sake.
> You expect poor readers at open mikes, but not on the
> international level.
>
> The two best poets I've heard introduced each poem well and
> read only short poems which did not have great depth of thought.
> They were not poems lacking in quality, however, and the poets'
> reading did enhance the poems.
>
> I have only enjoyed reading myself with a group with whom I am
> familiar. I do not mean close friends. I have definitely benefited
> from all my readings with the changes because of the changes
> I have made to the poems, even as I read.
>
> Tom
>
>> Thanks Alison.
>>
>> The poetry reading is beginning to strike me as a very strange art
>> form.
>> For years I didn't enjoy them but I went anyway. Then I heard Alan
>> Dugan. Now I'm interested but mostly more to see the
>> behavior/approach
>> of the poet. Generally I can't really follow/hear the poetry that
>> well.
>> It's a very strange art form: the poet is almost a sacred relic of
>> the
>> poetry. That's the only excuse. Mercifully it's short. Also: the
>> poetry audience is unusual in that it's very heavy on poets, sometimes
>> exclusively
>> so. Sometimes readings give me time to think. Yet I love doing them
>> myself. Still I think they're hard enough to enjoy. I'm actually
>> quite
>> afraid of the audience when I'm attending a reading, but not when I'm
>> reading myself.
>>
>> Mairead
>>
>>
>>>>> [log in to unmask] 03/05/05 7:20 PM >>>
>> On 6/3/05 3:08 AM, "Mairead Byrne" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>> Bob Perelman & Mairead Byrne read in Mike Gizzi & Mike Magee's
>> DownCity
>>> Series at Tazza, Westminster Street, on Tuesday March 8th at 7pm.
>>>
>>> The Poetry Reading -- I mean what *is* that about???
>>
>> Have fun, Mairead - would love to be there.
>>
>> And what _is_ it about? Any ideas?
>>
>> Best
>>
>> A
>>
>>
>> Alison Croggon
>>
>> Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
>> Editor, Masthead: http://masthead.net.au
>> Home page: http://alisoncroggon.com
>
>
> --
> Visit the Maine Poetry website for classic and contemporary
> Maine poets, poems, books, etc. - http://www.mainepoetry.com
>
>
Douglas Barbour
Department of English
University of Alberta
Edmonton Alberta T6G 2E5 Canada
(780) 436 3320
http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/dbhome.htm
care to be more
precise about whatever
it is you are
saying, I said
Bill Manhire
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