We've been reading Murray's BIPLANE HOUSES: a disapointment. He's writing poems because he's a poet, and this is what they do. To fill a book, to make some dough, to satisfy readers. It's a great question, how much poetry is too much? How much should an older poet write? (CONSCIOUS AND VERBAL was very powerful.)
We've been supplementing with John Hodgen's GRACE, a fun, good read.
On the brighter side, we had Mark Adderley and Elisabeth Kramp read this weak. Both were hugely attended. I've known Elisabeth for awhile, so I knew it would be great, a fine evening. And it was. But Mark knocked me over too. His heroic epic prose is like a clear mountain stream--an apt metaphor because he teaches at Wyoming Catholic. But it was fun too, because he's a real scholar, and I love the OE and ME periods. (Nice to get him to ramble there!) Anyone who did a diss on PIERS PLOWMAN has to be good, no?
Unpretentious, affable--those are the words that come to mind. Plus he was kind enough to introduce me to some of his home brew: Newcastle Nut Brown Ale.
Anyone who did a diss on PIERS PLOWMAN has to be good, no? . . . And it was great to see so many students there, with so much enthusiasm, good questions.
Thanks to both, their writing comes highly recommended.
