This month's 1718 reading was interesting to say the least. To start the evening, I dressed up a little bit, dressing myself in a black polo, dad jeans, brown chukka boots, and a dash of cologne, seeing how I would be attending with two fellow students, my friend and co-worker Louisa and a classmate from my Reading Poetry class, Anahi. Upon stepping out of the Uber, our eyes were immediately greeted with the hotel's lavish Iambic columns and pristine vegetation. As we proceeded to enter the palace, one thing that struck me were the smiling patrons. Everyone seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves, which was nice because it added to the environment's pleasant atmosphere, but I digress. The student readers, one from each of the major New Orleans universities (Loyola, Tulane, and UNO), began the hour and twenty minute event by reading either a short story or some of their verse. Surprisingly, my favorite was the UNO student's poem, "Astroid," which was a touching but scornful piece that seemed to draw from the young woman's tumultuous journey with romance. And then Carolyn Hembree took the mic.
With short cut hair, a youthful gown, and a Blue Moon in hand, she began to read from her book Rigging a Time Machine Into a Chevy and Other Ways to Escape a Plague. Her odd reading voice, and even more strange poetry, quickly enchanted the room with vivid images of lagoon-side rape, back-wood murders, and weeds. Her borderline nonsensical poems read as if they were of a trailer-park-born Lewis Carol who somehow managed to find enough time to delve into academia. The merging of Appalachian vernacular and commonplace with the scientific jargon of Stephen Hawking's lifeworks creates a truly encapsulating narrative that perplexes yet satisfies readers and listeners alike. When she had finished speaking, and had asked for questions, most people in the audience were capable of only two things: shifting in their seats and exhaling short breaths. It was evident that everyone was attempting to wrap their minds around what they had just witnessed, and as such, had trouble finding their words on the subject. However, when a few minutes had gone by, and the material had been kneaded a bit, the questions that arose were all very intelligent, well thought out and intricate, which reflected on the level stimulation that Ms. Hembree's work elicited.
Cole, I wish I had attended this reading now! Your blog about the 1718 reading is extremely descriptive. The image of a stunned audience with no questions to ask especially strikes me because I feel like people are always full of questions and things to say. That must be really cool thing to accomplish with one's writing, though--leaving the audience and readers speechless.
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