By Lauren Kane | Co Editor in Chief –
From Sappho to Walt Whitman, from Emily Dickinson to Sylvia Plath, these poets not only offer us images of our emotions, but also a way to come together and share those images. This is the goal of the Mckillop Library Poetry Gathering, which the name of both event and the organization. The second gathering of the MLPG will be held this Tuesday at 6:30pm, underneath the weeping beech tree behind McKillop.
Students, faculty and staff are all welcome to come and share poetry, whether it is original work, or simply someone’s favorite piece. The presentation of short stories is also encouraged. These can be long or short works, a poem from an obscure contemporary or Shakespeare’s ever-reliable Sonnet 18.
“The Gatherings are meant to provide a relaxing social atmosphere that is comfortable for both introverts and extroverts,” said Brandon Harrington, the student organizer of MLPG.
The first Poetry Gathering occurred last semester, with an attendance of approximately twenty people, students staff and faculty. The range of works read varied, from Dylan Thomas’s “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”, to original works. One of the more memorable readings was not a reading at all, but rather a recitation. Dan Holmes, then a junior English Literature and RTS double-major, had memorized the entirety of T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land. He then recited it from memory, making a performance of the poem, jumping up on chairs, and engaging the audience (i.e. grasping someone’s arm upon the line “long white arms with hands that grasped and fluttered”), and all in such a way that Eliot’s emotion was heard in his voice. It is certainly the poetry reading to beat for the next Gatherings, if any ambitious actors/actresses feel they want to do something more dramatic, but are afraid it will overzealous. It is most certainly encouraged!
“Rather than meet, we gather as passionate and creative intellectuals to share our love for writing and reading poetry,” said Harrington.
Right now is a time when creative writing is developing as a discipline at Salve Regina. The Poetry Gathering comes just after the “kickoff” event for the new creative writing minor in the English Department, which occurred last Friday. Winner of the National Book Award Bob Shacochis came to read from and discuss his novel “The Woman Who Lost Her Soul.” The English Department has previously been centered on communications studies, and the academic. It now seems that there is a push to add a third dynamic based more on the artistic and creative side to literature.
The Poetry Gatherings are planned to occur twice a semester. Refreshments will be served.
