Everyone who writes about John Kinsella always says "energy" and
"dynamic" and stuff like that, it's hard to avoid. Last night at
Colpitts Poetry he wasn't well, and (those who'd seen him before said)
was only reading at half-input. From which I can say that Kinsella at
half-power carries more charge than many other poets I've heard at
full power.

Lights out; Kinsella stands, his book about four inches below that
anglepoise, his face in G. de laTour more-or-less darkness some way
above it. The first half is built round poems from The Hunt, and
presenting recurrent themes from Kinsella's Western Australian
upbringing - ideas around blighted rural landscape, the pastoral
invaded and exploited out etc. Parrots of various different sorts
recur - indigenous, and vulnerable by the thousand - and plants and
animals are named as specifically as people. None of this is a million
miles from the discussions about nature, environment etc which we've
had on this list, and little fragments - notably, Peter Larkin's
"horizons" - bubble into my mind as I'm listening. Then some poems
from Poems 1980-1994 (including a couple for John Forbes, prefaced by
one of Forbes' poems) and finally the title poem from The Silo - a
grizzly tale which could come from any semi-rural community in the
world. All the poems read are from published work; no notebook or
typescript poems in sight.

Kinsella's reading is strong and compelling - what it'd be like at
full-belt I can't imagine. It's not a "musical" reading in terms of
tonal quality, his accent is quite flat, and he doesn't dillydally
with any of the sound-of-words stuff (except momentarily, with a
villanelle, where the rhyme scheme is forced out) - nevertheless, he
convinces with a power and, yes, energy which few can match.
Curiously, I was reminded of some of the first Allen Fisher readings I
heard, the way the factive, direct nature of the work and the voice
generated their own conviction and strength.

Some time settling the audience for part 2, someone behind me is
frigging with a mobile phone as the lights go out ("Oh God! The
Reading's starting, I must go!" etc). Audience happily enlarged
tonight with a local creative writing group. Poet looking a little
tired now, but launches with bravura into more of the snapshots and
narratives of The Silo (adding "these people really exist" and shaking
head sadly after some of them) building on the themes of hurt
landscape / hurt humanity in W.Aus. "I come from a place where racism
and misogyny are commonplace" he says, and there are a few grins in
the audience, since he's been introduced as coming from
Cambridge...Towards the end he moves into "more liguistically
innovative" territory, ending with poems from Zyzygy. Now many
readers, tired and wanting to get to their hotel room, would present
these poems slowly, definately, downbeat, giving audience and reader a
chance to engage in the tropes which go on here - not JK: his voice
rises in pitch and dynamic and he _gabbles_ the pieces, one after
singular one, the words blurring into each other like an auctioneer on
speed. This isn't an attempt on the Tom Raworth poetry speed record,
it's a RANT [I recall a Czech conductor I played for once who
double-paced the last movement of Beethoven's 7th cos he wanted to get
to the pub afterwards...] Way to go, as they say. Applause. Lights up.
Poet thanked. More applause.

Get Well Soon, John!

Next Colpitts reading (to be confirmed): John Montagu, May 14th

RC


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