Experimental poets recite their works at Writers House

As if chosen for their clashing personalities and differing writing styles, American poets Kevin Davies and Diane Ward read their own poetry last night and discussed their craft as part of PhillyTalks, a series held and sponsored by the Kelly Writers House. Assembled in the small living room of the Writers House, the approximately 25-member audience included English professors Al Filreis and Bob Perelman, several Penn students and assorted area residents. Last night's event, which was the 15th in the PhillyTalks series, featured poetry readings first from Davies and then by Ward. Davies, who taught composition at New York University for four years and now serves as a writing tutor and academic advisor there, read from his already published book of poems, Pause Button, as well as his forthcoming Comp., which is due out next year. Following the event, adults and students alike said they believed Davies' poetry -- which consisted of titles like "Karnal Bunt" -- was made difficult to follow by its sentence fragments and collage-like imagery. Local poet Paula Diehls, for instance, said she personally did not understand the words of either poet. "I feel bad about Kevin. I wanted the things to make sense to me, but they don't," Diehls said. Still, Ward, co-editor of a poetry journal and author of Portrait Signifying Space Without Visually Enclosing It, made a point of complimenting her colleague's reading style. "It's musical, chanting, repetitive," Ward said of Davies' voice after he had spoken. Along with discussing their stylistic approaches, the poets bounced from light topics -- such as cockroaches and turtle bites -- to decidedly heavier issues, such as whether each poet wrote with an audience in mind. In a conversation between the two poets before the event -- whose transcript was made available to all audience members -- Davies explained the important role that teaching has played in his life with regards to lessons in writing. "How do you make sense in a given context? Who is the audience? What techniques can be employed to 'invent' proofs for arguments?" Davies said. PhillyTalks invites two experimental poets -- usually with a dramatic difference in age -- to engage in a dialogue before the night of meeting. The transcript of the correspondence is then published in newsletter form and distributed just prior to the event. The preceding dialogue, the person-to-person discussion between the two poets and their additional exchange at the Writers House were all further supplemented by audience interaction.