COVER TO COVER with DENNY SMITHSON

Monday, October 29, 2012 3-3:30 pm KPFA 94.1 FM Berkeley

Where is art? Where does writing end, and performance begin? How counter, these two pursuits. The one solitary, introspective, groping in the dark. The other very public, and in the case of radio: no eye contact. Are you ironing your clothes? Doing the crossword, laughing, crying, even arguing with me? The dialog between Author/Poet, and Reader, is one-directional. We say, as readers, “So and so speaks to me,” or even, “So and so speaks for me.” What a gift it is then when the Reader says, “My friends and I sat around the kitchen table and took turns reading your story aloud.” Or, another reader who doesn’t read poetry, says, “Gosh, I just want to say these lines.” Or, “Every time I go into Peet’s I re-read your poem.” Reader, dark roast in a cup to go, yet not going, but reading, re-reading. And, “I’d go anywhere, anytime to hear you read.” Also to savor: "Your stories gave me nightmares." Truth stings.

The live interview? It does give me momentary pause. As a friend kindly said, “Just be yourself. Have fun.” I appreciate the reminder. There’s the frisson of the unexpected, both in the question and in hearing what I myself might say, as I consider questions I’ve never encountered. Listeners long for this, some spark of life among the intellectual discourse. And I love reading my poetry aloud. There are visual poets, and I love their work. But for me, poetry is an auditory art. It’s music. It’s song. 

Suddenly, radio seems the perfect venue. Please tune in.

COVER TO COVER with DENNY SMITHSON

Laura Glen Louis discusses Some, like elephants, elegies and Talking in the Dark, stories

Monday Oct 29, 2012

3:00 to 3:30 pm

KPFA 94.1 FM Berkeley