Love your title, Alex! And solidarity on the readings…has to be a writer I ADORE and THEY are never ever boring. Think Sophia Shalmiyev, Lidia Yuknavitch, Dorothy Allison (recently deceased unfortunately) Diane Seuss, Terese Mailhot. If I really love the writer they turn out to be hot as eff at a reading. At least to me. I’m trying to think of someone who’s writing I fell in love with that doesn’t have this effect on me. But my list is pretty short, too. I like a helluva lot of writers. Even love their work, but only a few have that magic and it’s in their words and their being. It’s not a performance. Many writers have writer personas. So do their work. Anyway, thanks for stimulating my thoughts today! And I DO love Clarice Lispecter and Marguerite Duras and wish I could’ve seen them in person. Also Rilke! Cezanne! Van Gogh!
No dry academics posing for the literati….if you get my drift.
I am a constant reader. I love to read, but I would not dare share the authors I read because you would disown me as a follower. I have enjoyed interviews with authors I have read (on YouTube mostly). I have never been to a book reading or met an author in person. I would like to add that as much as I have never embraced the world of poetry, the times when I have heard poetry read by the author made all the difference in the world. Again, this has been on YouTube, for the most part. I follow a zoom class every Friday on short stories, and it has exposed me to so many writers I have never heard of. At 76, I continue to ask myself where I have been all my life that I don't know many of these writers. I don't participate in the class...just listen, but many of the members, including the leader, often speculate what the author's intent might be. I figure the only person who knows for sure what the intent is is the author, ergo an interview with a writer would explain a lot. I supposed, were I to attend a book reading, the very questions I would want answered are their intent and what inspired them because of that open window. But I would unlikely attend a book reading, and if I did, I would never ask a question. You might very likely find me leaving early too.
Love your title, Alex! And solidarity on the readings…has to be a writer I ADORE and THEY are never ever boring. Think Sophia Shalmiyev, Lidia Yuknavitch, Dorothy Allison (recently deceased unfortunately) Diane Seuss, Terese Mailhot. If I really love the writer they turn out to be hot as eff at a reading. At least to me. I’m trying to think of someone who’s writing I fell in love with that doesn’t have this effect on me. But my list is pretty short, too. I like a helluva lot of writers. Even love their work, but only a few have that magic and it’s in their words and their being. It’s not a performance. Many writers have writer personas. So do their work. Anyway, thanks for stimulating my thoughts today! And I DO love Clarice Lispecter and Marguerite Duras and wish I could’ve seen them in person. Also Rilke! Cezanne! Van Gogh!
No dry academics posing for the literati….if you get my drift.
The desperation, there's something so human in that. So alive, in a way. Thank you so much for sharing your perspective, I really appreciated it.
I am a constant reader. I love to read, but I would not dare share the authors I read because you would disown me as a follower. I have enjoyed interviews with authors I have read (on YouTube mostly). I have never been to a book reading or met an author in person. I would like to add that as much as I have never embraced the world of poetry, the times when I have heard poetry read by the author made all the difference in the world. Again, this has been on YouTube, for the most part. I follow a zoom class every Friday on short stories, and it has exposed me to so many writers I have never heard of. At 76, I continue to ask myself where I have been all my life that I don't know many of these writers. I don't participate in the class...just listen, but many of the members, including the leader, often speculate what the author's intent might be. I figure the only person who knows for sure what the intent is is the author, ergo an interview with a writer would explain a lot. I supposed, were I to attend a book reading, the very questions I would want answered are their intent and what inspired them because of that open window. But I would unlikely attend a book reading, and if I did, I would never ask a question. You might very likely find me leaving early too.
Ah Craig, you know my first rule is don’t shame people over what authors they read!
There’s a sort of anxiety about her that feels real (and other parts that don’t).
This is why I only go to good readings (that's such a vague comment, but hey, whatever.)