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From left to right: Jeffrey Thomson, Averill Curdy, and V. Penelope Pelizzon read at the Symposium of Younger Poets on Friday in the Valley Library. The Symposium was part of the Visiting Writers Series, which aims to bring nationally recognized authors and poets to OSU.

Young poets welcomed at OSU

Averill Curdy, V. Penelope Pelizzon, Jeffrey Thomson present their poetry in Valley Library Rotunda on Friday evening

By: Gail Cole

Posted: 11/24/08

The English department's Visiting Writers Series brought the second installment of the series to OSU on Friday night, titled "The Symposium of Younger Poets."

Approximately 90 guests filled the Valley Library Rotunda to hear the three poets read several selections of their poetry and answer questions about the craft.

The English department, the Valley Library and the Office of the Provost sponsored the reading.

As the title of the event suggests, these writers were chosen because they are relatively new to their careers in poetry.

"All of these poets are in the earlier stages of their careers," said Karen Holmberg, assistant professor of English.

She acknowledged that many young poets are producing some of the "most challenging, innovative and alive poetry today."

"I chose these poets on the basis of their excellence," Holmberg said.

In addition to Friday evening's reading, earlier in the day the three poets met with Masters of Fine Arts students of the English department and several undergraduates to discuss writing poetry, Holmberg said.

The first speaker, Averill Curdy, is the Artist in Residence at Northwestern University, where she teaches poetry. Her poems can be found in Poetry magazine, The Paris Review and Slate.

V. Penelope Pelizzon, who spoke second on Friday evening, is an associate professor of English and co-director of the creative writing program at The University of Connecticut. Her first book of poetry was released in 2000, and she has appeared in The Kenyon Review, The Nation and The New England Review.

The third speaker, Jeffrey Thomson, is an assistant professor of creative writing at the University of Maine Farmington. He has released two books of poetry and will publish three more in 2009.

After sharing several of their poems, the three poets returned to the podium to read one or two concluding poems, followed by a question-and-answer session with the audience.

All three read in distinctive styles; Curdy explained that she speaks quickly as a way for readers to concentrate on the images of the poem.

"To me, that's a conscious decision," she said, adding that it's easier to focus on the mechanics when reading a poem than to focus on the experience.

Since Pelizzon and Thomson read several funny pieces, they discussed writing humor and admitted that they often do not try to be funny.

"Jokes, I think, are all based on a logical skip; that missing place is why it's funny," Tomson said.

All three agreed that poetry is a way for them to express themselves.

"I feel like I don't know how to feel or think about things until I write them down," Pelizzon said.

"The thing that writers do is that they teach themselves what they know by writing it," Thomson said.

When asked about poetry's place in society, the three admitted to the complicated dynamic that is found between poets, poetry and the world.

"We live in a culture where we're not really sure what poets do," Pelizzon said, and added that some poets often use their poems to change the world rather than taking action themselves.

Each poet agreed that it takes intense persistence to be a professional writer since submitted work is often rejected.

"You really have to have tough skin about it; you have to not take it personally," Pelizzon said.

Curdy shared that she always wrote on her own, but began taking the idea of writing as a career seriously when she was in her thirties.

She also advised young writers to always pursue their dreams.

"You may not know, it may just be a hunch," Curdy said. "You jut have to do it."

The next guest to visit OSU in the series is Bill Guttentag on Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the LaSells Stewart Center C&E room.

Gail Cole, senior reporter
news@dailybarometer.com, 737-2231