Award-winning poet intrigues audience

Clearly and quietly, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Louise Gluck read from her book The Wild Iris with a steady tone, creating an almost hypnotic effect. About 55 people attended the reading last week, sponsored by the Philomathean Society and the Creative Writing department. Reading poems from several of her books, Gluck described how she developed as a poet while producing each work. When writing Ararat, a recent book addressing the organization of the family, Gluck said she mastered a conversational style for the first time. "It was a great lark to write Ararat," she said. "Before, I felt I had no access to replicate the voice used in speech. I didn't use contractions or ask questions. "When I finally learned how, I felt I could put everything I saw into this language," she added. While Gluck uses one voice throughout her poems in Ararat, she changed her style again when writing The Wild Iris, alternating between several voices. "One voice is a single human being who speaks to whatever controls the universe," Gluck said before she read from the book. "Another voice is from the natural world which speaks to humans and beyond humans. The last voice, which is whatever can not be named, speaks to his or her or its children." Gluck used an almost monotonous tone when reading her poems, which she said many people have criticized. "People have told me that I ruin the poem with the way I read it," Gluck said. "I actually feel uncomfortable doing readings." She added that she does not think she is "the authority on what the poems mean or how they should be read." "I would much prefer someone see my poem on paper and decided themselves what they think it means," she said. After the reading, Gluck, who also teaches creative writing at Williams College, spoke with students. She encouraged them to experiment with different styles and avoid the mistakes students often make when writing poetry. "A lot of students' poems sound like they took them straight out of their diaries," Gluck said. "They talk about the typical, 'it's raining and you don't love me.' You have to go beyond that and turn it into something more surprising." For College sophomore Shawn Walker, listening to Gluck's reading and meeting her gave a new perspective on the poetry. "I learned more about her personality during the reading," Shawn said. "When she talked to the audience and people afterwards her humorous side came through which I hadn't seen in her poetry. I'll probably think about that next time I read her work."

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