Poetry Society of Texas Summer Conference
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The Poetry Society of Texas held its Summer Conference in Fort Worth on July 9-11.
Listen to poetry for two-and-a-half days? Sounds boring, doesn't it. But, it wasn’t--and the conference wasn't just about reading poetry. There were workshops--one about creating chapbooks; one about poems and art growing out of each other; workshops on different kinds of poetry. There was a “You Be the Judge” contest. Several attendees brought poems for a blind judging; two women alternated reading them, and then the audience voted on their favorite three. Loretta Diane Walker, an Odessa poet and music teacher, won first place.
What you may not realize is poetry is Performance Art. A poem isn’t just “read.” It shouldn’t be an in-your-face, force-the-emotion on you performance; it’s mostly not the exaggerated body language, over-the-top performance of a stage show.
But when poetry is read well, you have the facial expressions; the movement of hands that reflect in the angle of the head and position of the body. It’s about making eye contact with the audience and not just keeping your eyes on the words in front of you. And everything physical about the reading reflects the tone of voice and style of poetry--from the sharp snap of some words, the easy, flowing, drifting of other words, the slow drawling of these lines, the rapid fire bullets of those lines. It’s about inflection and pacing--and not stumbling over your lines!
If it’s done well, it all works together to create an experience that elicits a visceral response from the listener.
One poet--Dr. Jeffrey DeLotto--held a workshop on Dramatic Monologues--a poetry form that generally has a historical person speaking to someone else, not the reader, and as indicated from the name--generally is about a serious subject. In one of his poems, Dr. DeLotto had Jim Bowie, dying at the Alamo, talking to his servant/slave. The tired, sad, resigned voice of Jim made the Alamo siege seem recent.
And then Dr. DeLotto read one about a killer/rapist snarling--raging at his victim. It was absolutely chilling. A woman’s worst nightmare.
Karla Morton, from Denton, was recently announced as the TX Poet Laureate for 2010. She is a most delightful young woman--funny, personable, a recent breast cancer survivor, and probably the most talented poet this reporter has ever heard. She was incredible. She read one poem that had to do with hospice, it evoked so much feeling that some people wound up in tears. And then she read a poem that had to do with "Do Not Touch"--we’re not supposed to touch art. She described a sculpture--and when she used her hand --like she was caressing a thigh muscle--it was almost too beautiful to bear.
Not all the poems were serious by any means. Lynn Lewis, the Poets of Tarrant County president, read one--made even funnier by her attitude and body language--called, "Me (and Clara Angela)." She had the entire audience laughing.
Also in attendance were: former TX Poet Laureate, Alan Birkelbach; the current NFSPS President, Nancy Baass; the current PST President Jeannette Strother; and several past PST presidents, including Budd Powell Mahan, Marilyn Stacy (who recently published "Sometimes You Have to Laugh: A Poet's Look at Cancer," available at www.marilynstacy.com), Linda Banks, J. Paul Holcomb, and Dr. Richard Sale.
Saturday morning a mini-monthly meeting was held. Monthly contest winners were announced, and the two top winners read their poems. David Knape of Plano won the "Laugh Lines" category, and read "Poetic License. Barbara Blanks of Garland won the "Critic's Award" and read her poem, "In Essence."
Barbara Blanks, who recently filled the vacated Librarian post, also announced the titles and authors of chapbooks (short poetry books) being donated to the Dallas Public Library by their authors. She also announced the donation of her non-poetry book, OUT OF THE WRECKAGE: The Pop Stories (available at www.barbarablanks.books.officelive.com ).
(APPARENTLY YOU HAVE TO COPY & PASTE or TYPE IN THE ABOVE LINKS--CLICKING ON THEM TAKES YOU TO AN ERROR PAGE.)
Listen to poetry for two-and-a-half days? Sounds boring, doesn't it. But, it wasn’t--and the conference wasn't just about reading poetry. There were workshops--one about creating chapbooks; one about poems and art growing out of each other; workshops on different kinds of poetry. There was a “You Be the Judge” contest. Several attendees brought poems for a blind judging; two women alternated reading them, and then the audience voted on their favorite three. Loretta Diane Walker, an Odessa poet and music teacher, won first place.
What you may not realize is poetry is Performance Art. A poem isn’t just “read.” It shouldn’t be an in-your-face, force-the-emotion on you performance; it’s mostly not the exaggerated body language, over-the-top performance of a stage show.
But when poetry is read well, you have the facial expressions; the movement of hands that reflect in the angle of the head and position of the body. It’s about making eye contact with the audience and not just keeping your eyes on the words in front of you. And everything physical about the reading reflects the tone of voice and style of poetry--from the sharp snap of some words, the easy, flowing, drifting of other words, the slow drawling of these lines, the rapid fire bullets of those lines. It’s about inflection and pacing--and not stumbling over your lines!
If it’s done well, it all works together to create an experience that elicits a visceral response from the listener.
One poet--Dr. Jeffrey DeLotto--held a workshop on Dramatic Monologues--a poetry form that generally has a historical person speaking to someone else, not the reader, and as indicated from the name--generally is about a serious subject. In one of his poems, Dr. DeLotto had Jim Bowie, dying at the Alamo, talking to his servant/slave. The tired, sad, resigned voice of Jim made the Alamo siege seem recent.
And then Dr. DeLotto read one about a killer/rapist snarling--raging at his victim. It was absolutely chilling. A woman’s worst nightmare.
Karla Morton, from Denton, was recently announced as the TX Poet Laureate for 2010. She is a most delightful young woman--funny, personable, a recent breast cancer survivor, and probably the most talented poet this reporter has ever heard. She was incredible. She read one poem that had to do with hospice, it evoked so much feeling that some people wound up in tears. And then she read a poem that had to do with "Do Not Touch"--we’re not supposed to touch art. She described a sculpture--and when she used her hand --like she was caressing a thigh muscle--it was almost too beautiful to bear.
Not all the poems were serious by any means. Lynn Lewis, the Poets of Tarrant County president, read one--made even funnier by her attitude and body language--called, "Me (and Clara Angela)." She had the entire audience laughing.
Also in attendance were: former TX Poet Laureate, Alan Birkelbach; the current NFSPS President, Nancy Baass; the current PST President Jeannette Strother; and several past PST presidents, including Budd Powell Mahan, Marilyn Stacy (who recently published "Sometimes You Have to Laugh: A Poet's Look at Cancer," available at www.marilynstacy.com), Linda Banks, J. Paul Holcomb, and Dr. Richard Sale.
Saturday morning a mini-monthly meeting was held. Monthly contest winners were announced, and the two top winners read their poems. David Knape of Plano won the "Laugh Lines" category, and read "Poetic License. Barbara Blanks of Garland won the "Critic's Award" and read her poem, "In Essence."
Barbara Blanks, who recently filled the vacated Librarian post, also announced the titles and authors of chapbooks (short poetry books) being donated to the Dallas Public Library by their authors. She also announced the donation of her non-poetry book, OUT OF THE WRECKAGE: The Pop Stories (available at www.barbarablanks.books.officelive.com ).
(APPARENTLY YOU HAVE TO COPY & PASTE or TYPE IN THE ABOVE LINKS--CLICKING ON THEM TAKES YOU TO AN ERROR PAGE.)
