So all of us arty weirdos have probably been to a poetry reading or poetry slam at least once.
Ask anyone who knows me...bad poetry being read aloud in an overly-dramatic-high-school-thespian way is my personal hell. Anytime I've seen an amateur poetry reading, I either leave immediately or get completely soused because the whole ordeal gives me embarrassing feelings BIG TIME.
But I can hang with second chances. And I think Cynthia Hogue might be the one to give me faith in poetry. She'll be reading her poetry tonight at 7:30 p.m. at ASU's Polytechnic Campus.
Hogue has the resume of an intellectual powerhouse with five published poetry books, a whole bunch of fellowships (Fullbright, National Endowment for the Arts, NEH Summer Seminar, H.D. Fellowship at Yale...impressive, yes?) and can take credit for at least four other published critical works.
She's taught at the University of New Orleans, Bucknell University in Pennsylvania and now works at the Department of English at ASU as the Maxine and Jonathan Marshall Chair in Modern and Contemporary Poetry.
She's no doubt a far cry from the coffee shop "poets" I've witnessed and she gives me hope for a new relationship with poetry...one that doesn't give me embarrassing feelings.
Reading by Cynthia Hogue (and author Peter Turchi) is organized by Supersition Review, The Literary & Art Journal of Arizona State University at the Polyechnic Campus. The free event starts at 7:30 p.m. at ASU Polytechnic Campus (Cooley Ballroom at the Polytechnic Student Union). Click here for driving directions.
