The Iraq war, the Rhode Island State House and the poetry of Frank O'Hara are among the diverse subjects to be covered by poets Bob Perelman and Mairead Byrne in the March 8 second installment of the Downcity Poetry Series, co-sponsored by the Brown Literary Arts Program.
Perelman, a professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania, has published over 15 volumes of poetry and books of literary criticism. "I am interested in poems that straddle boundaries," Perelman said.
Perelman's half-hour reading will feature approximately 10 poems of varying length and will include mostly new work.
Perelman will read "Against Shock and Awe," an anti-war poem about the United States' Iraq policy. He will also present "The Past Is No Place For a Person Like You," which addresses several important poets, including Frank O'Hara and H.D. - Hilda Doolittle - and questions the type of role literary predecessors play for a poet.
Perelman considers himself a "language writer," referring to the U.S. poetry movement that emerged during the 1970s. He has been writing since adolescence and published his first book around age 27, he said. His interest in exploring different possibilities through poetry allows Perelman to draw inspiration from all events, both large and minute, that occur in his life. He uses poetry to identify things he thinks are wrong or need to be addressed.
"I don't disdain ordinary language. I am trying to use the language we speak to say things that are new," Perelman said.
Perelman is hopeful that the work he presents in the upcoming reading will be a little more straightforward and accessible than his previous work, he said. He hopes that his poems will hold the interest of his audience and finds it difficult to summarize a theme in his work. "The answers are in the poems, not in these little remarks," Perelman said.
The second poet of the evening, Dublin native Byrne, is an English professor at the Rhode Island School of Design. Byrne, who associates her work with standup comedy, will read for about 25 minutes.
Byrne will likely present part of an ongoing work in which she writes down a line about the Rhode Island State House every day and compiles them into a poem at the end of the month. Among other poems she will read are "Things I'm Good At" and "Baghdad," which is part of a larger manuscript called "Broken" that deals with different states of brokenness. "Baghdad" is made up of phrases from news reports, she said. Her second manuscript is SOS poetry.
Byrne has been writing in some form since she was about 15 years old, but did not publish her work until she was 30. In terms of her evolution as a writer, Byrne believes that her current work is easier to grasp and more open and entertaining than her previous work.
Byrne said she draws inspiration from everything - the daily practice of writing, the State House, the daily weather. She does many poetry readings across the country, but is delighted to participate in the Downcity Poetry Series, as she has not read in Providence for over a year, she said. Byrne was contacted to participate in the Downcity Series by event organizers Michael Gizzi of the Literary Arts Program and RISD Adjunct Professor of English Michael Magee.
