The Reading went well except that now I’m tired and my voice hurts which hardly ever happens to me. It was nice to see Steve Mueske there—he is such a nice guy even though I forgot the book I’ve been promising him.
I get a bit wound up before I read and I am naturally dizzy so I tend to forget things. I didn’t read enough poems. I have a whole 30 minutes to read next week and my friend told me tonight I need to make small talk. I hate small talk. I want to go through the poems and not explain. I figure if you are explaining, the poem already doesn’t work. But of course, that is not what she means, she wants me to tell cute stories but I am DARK…I have no cute stories.
The ironic thing is I am funny in real life but not in my writing. It is like I store up all the deep things I think about and put them all down so maybe it's hard for her to see another side me. Whatever the case, there is still 30 minutes to burn next week and that is a hell of a lot of poem unless I talk in between. Maybe I will sing, I could always sing, that ought to clear the room.
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9 comments:
Hi Teresa:
I think the chit-chat in-between poems is a really important part of readings: so don't worry about talking too much. As listeners, we don't have the printed poem on the page in front of us: so I find it incredibly helpful to be given a "head start" into the poem, by hearing a little bit about it, to set it up before I hear it.
Plus, it's a good place to tell jokes and insert a bit of humor! Hope your reading goes well.
best,
Peter
i always found it easy to get up and read but the talking to the audience was always hard / then i started hosting open stage week / i finally got over my stage fright & find i have no problem "killing time" talking to the audience / some times i talk about the writing / some times i just talk about what ever i'm interested in on that day / it's one of those things that takes practice / & alot depends on the audience / good luck with it
Hey, T. You did great! I'm like you, don't really talk much between poems. I have mixed feelings about it. I love it when someone like Mark Doty does it, but nine times out of ten it bugs the shit out of me when a local poet does it -- invariably they ramble on and on and describe the setting in which the poem was written and what the poem was about and some of the central metaphors, etc. I'm like you, I'd rather hear the poems.
I empathize entirely - also feel like I should be funnier during a reading, but instead I think I come across as intense and morose. Though, think: don't you like it when you yourself listen to someone read with intensity and focus? Why wouldn't you be liked, then? It commends respect and has its own place. Sometimes too much chitchat can detract from a poem. Just do whatever comes to you.
I rarely talk about my poems before I read them unless it's to make a bad joke. I don't write funny poems, but my delivery is sometimes accidentally funny and people laugh and startle me. In fact, Peter always laughs at one of my poems when I get to the line about car crashes. Once I start talking, all I can think of to do is to talk more and faster and then things go horribly awry.
A good thing to do if you have a long time to read (30 minutes is a very long reading) is to read other people's poems, poems you love. Sprinkle them in and out of your own work.
Last year, a poet prefaced his reading by saying he doesn't really say much by way of introduction to his poems, he just jumps right in. I think an audience would appreciate a small explanation such as this. As long as they know what's going to happen, then they shouldn't be too disgruntled. :-)
"The ironic thing is I am funny in real life but not in my writing."
Just to offer a host's perspective: several in the regular audience for my monthly reading series are aspiring writers working to develop their voices. From where I sit, it especially fulfills one of the missions of my series when the reader offers a little of their personality and shows the audience that you can have a different or more expansive voice (or voices) in your work than you have in life. Rather than small talk, I appreciate it most when my featured reader mentions an exercise that led to a poem or a student's reaction to a famous poem - something that might send an audience member to their desk or bookshelf after the reading.
I know it's a lot to ask of a reader, but I also know the residual energy it leaves in the group and its corresponding increase in their interest in the art form of poetry is tangible - a real boost for the community. And though I take great joy in featuring writers I love in my series, that community is who my series really serves.
Thanks everyone for your comments about the reading, it was very helpful and it is nice to know I’m not the only one to who struggles with this. I always find it odd that some poems work so well on stage and not so well in a book.
I have been thinking a lot about the readings I enjoy and at first I didn’t think there was any chit chat and then I realized that it was so natural it almost seemed part of the poem. Oh to get there…
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