I am doing a public reading tonight (at the 'new' Brisbane Hotel @ 7.30 pm,
if anyone is from this neck of the woods and doesn't know) and I am, as
always, wondering how best to present my work. Yes, short poems with some
enjoyment in them as 'sound pieces' is good, but for my own benefit, I also
like reading some recent poems to test them out on the air. I'm also two
thirds of the way through a novel, so I'd like to air some of its pages. But
is it too difficult for them to hear just part of a novel, without the
before and afters? It is a difficult thing to choose - I'll spend a lot of
today sorting out my reading I know, and I'd rather be actually writing. I
have twenty minutes - The way I ramble, that could be a five minute poem
with a quarter hour intro :)
And, yes, Douglas, I also like 'em for their social aspect. We should just
declare a 'let's all meet up at the pub' evening and dispense with the
reading - but then I wouldn't get paid, would I, and I rather like getting
paid for any poetry activity. It gives it street cred.
Andrew
http://hispirits.blogspot.com/
> >
> Just a short note to say that basically I get nothing out of poetry
readings
> and go to them as a social event. I read the words on the page but it is
> useful to have the poet's voice in your mind when you do it.
>
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