I really like this Poetry@Tech reading. It was very different from the poetry reading events I attended before. The three poets all had their own personalities. The first poet, Bruce McEver, was exotic. His poems about China gave me a brand new feeling of China, and let me know what China is like in the eyes of western people. However, he lacked connection with the audience. His reading was not engaging enough as well. He wasn’t skilled in presenting the poems and made me felt like he was simply reading the poems. The second poet, Robert Wrigley, was the best among the three readers in my opinion. His poems were beautiful and amazing. I was especially moved by the one in which he wrote about the forest. The whole poem was so pictorial that I could almost see the scenes depicted in the poem if I closed my eyes. He’s more skilled in presenting his poems than McEver. His confidence made his voice convincing and thus strengthened the poems’ impact on the audience. He didn’t make many pauses during his recitation. Usually I’d say this is not good because this doesn’t allow the audience to think and appreciate the poems. However, this rule obviously didn’t fit in Wrigley’s recitation. The lack of intervals created continuity for the recitation of his poems. I would say Wrigley wisely chose the recitation mode that fitted his works best. He was also good at bringing jokes into his work so that the audience didn’t feel boring. The last poet, Kim Addonizi was definitely the most impressing one. Her harmonica won her the audience’s attention and favor. It was very creative and effective to reveal her emotions in the poems utilizing harmonica. Addonizi was also a quite emotive reciter. She mastered her pace and tone during her recitation. Overall, I really had a good time at the reading and will go to the readings next year.
ariayh
ariayh 