Columbia

I attended a poetry reading on Wednesday, April 13, at 5:30. The reading was held at Stage Two, 618 Michigan Ave. EVAN LAVENDER-SMITH and KIKI PETROSINO were the two readers.

O Lord
I lift my heart from its brown
clock & shake
long enough to catch the sad loose
switch in it.
Slow thing I say tender. I'll miss
tapping in the fine broke
days.
Jingle days-
My heart would mark in bird
sound. A silver thrum now hushed.Hush-
Hush-this keeping unless you stir
my heart O Lord
today. Unless you lift me up & tap
just where. Two taps
may sound
through to the metal-
-Through-
-Through



Kiki had somewhat of a glow about her. She was soft spoken, but I feel that she looked down too much. It would have been nice if this reading incorporated the performance aspect as well. To be frank, I tuned out, and I almost fell asleep...I didn't though. Popularity and Me; a poem that caught my attention. Kiki read: I am queen, slipping into a bucktoothed gondola-I remember my father talking about gondola's when I was younger. They're boats with just a single oar. This was a way of getting around in Venice, Italy. My father said that these gondolas were a "respectable way of transportation, Brit." Gondolas fit about six people to a boat. He then went on and on and on about his mother. So, I politely said "I have to go." This was interesting to me, and therefore changed my view on this poem. In the beginning of this poem, Kiki appeared quite vulnerable. I was drawn to that vunerablilty. Not only am I drawn to passion through the arts, I am drawn to people who can evoke passion in me through their creative works. I feel this poem described how she felt growing up, and how individuals dismiss her. Towards the end of her poem, she had this “conquer all” tune in her voice. I can identify with this scenario. I have felt self doubt, because I have had people doubt me. As I have become older, and I have grown into my own, I have become stronger. I feel this is what Kiki was trying to convey with this poem. I can't remember any of her other poems. I wish I could.
I wasn’t too fascinated with this poetry reading. It was free, and convenient. This was my second poetry reading that I’ve attended. I plan on attending more than this. The Chicago Reader posts free art events everyday. I should be able to seek out more readings during the summer. Out of the two that I had to attend for class, I enjoyed Buddy Wakefield’s poetry, and his performance the best.

Nicole K.

CPR No. 24

Ferguson Hall

May 5, 2011 @ 5:30

On May 5, 2011 I attended CPR’s Poetry Reading. “CPR is a student-edited, nationally distributed literary journal published each spring that includes work by well-known poets as well as the best Columbia College student writing and unsolicited work submitted to the review.” As I walk into the room filled with flowers, presents, books, and chocolate all color coordinated in orange and yellow, I felt as though I was in a world I did not belong. I am very much involved in the Art + Design world of Columbia College Chicago, little did I know there is another realm of clicks and passionate artist. Faculty Adivsor, David Trinidad opens up with a brief discussion and thank yous and the poetry reading commenced.

Readers were flying through their poems. Very different from the previous event I attended, where the poems were much longer. Shay lessman opened up with a very light note. His poem was about his pubescent love for the daughter on Rose Ann. Disappointed when he found out she was a lesbian. I loved this poem, it was witty, quick, and funny.

I found Tony Trigilio very intriguing, he wrote about a murder attempt in his hometown. I don’t remember the whole story but I was mostly focused on the soft flow in his voice. The way he flowed through his poem but very compelling. I don’t know if that is a negative thing that I don’t remember how the story went, but I do recall saying this is how a poem should be read.

Very different but just as entertaining was Kayla Sargeson, a tatted MA student. She got up to the podium laughing. As soon as she began reading power and assertiveness exploded from her voice. I don’t remember specific content however, what was most interesting was the way she presented. Accenting her consonants, short sharp pauses. She often began her line on the upbeat, which kept the listeners engaged. She screamed and shouted her poem, not angrily though. She was expected but very much unexpected.

I realized while I was sitting there, that poetry most of the time makes me zone out. I start thinking about other things or stopping at an idea said in a poem to analyze the thought process. The readers that were able to keep my attention were the ones that had a strong reading style. I don’t understand why 80% of poetry readers read in a monotone depressed voice. In my opinion, it’s not very interesting to listen to. I would much rather engage in a poem that had a plan, thoughtful musicality to it.

Overall, I truly enjoyed this event. I wish I was more aware of readings and other events going on outside of my department at Columbia. It’s always interesting to throw oneself in a new environment surrounded by artist of other expressions, because let’s be honest we all have the same process, our final piece is just shown in a different medium.

Borders Closing doors Open Mic night

I attended and open mic night at Borders in Matteson Illinois. I attended this event back in February when that Borders location was going out of business. One of my best friends Alexandria participated and read some of her own poetry. It was an amature night so there were no published writers in attendance. The atmosphere was very comfortable and inviting because it took place in an cafe. I believe there were an mixture of musical perfomances and poetry readings. In the first hour that I attended there were only poetry readings. I really enjoyed this reading because the mood was very laid back. I didnt feel pressured to stay focussed on each performer.

Columbia Poetry Review

The reading I attended was the school’s poetry review on Cinco de Mayo. It took place at Ferguson Hall, which was a room in that building that I had no idea even existed. Many students read poems, and the featured Poet was a guy named D.A Powell.

This reading was convenient for me to attend, but that wasn’t why I went. I was very interested in seeing Poems read by fellow students, as the Poetry major at this school isn’t something I know too much about.

As I had said before, the reading took place in a conference hall stored away in the 600 S Michigan building. It was different from the one I attended at the Conway Center, which felt a lot more open. This venue was a bit more intimate. I was surprised at how humorous most of the poems by the students were. The reading I had gone to before was light-hearted when the Poet was talking to the audience, but his poetry was considerably heavy. That wasn’t the case with this venue, as it was much more light-hearted. That was very relieving and relaxing. Some readers were a bit more passive, while others had pretty biting pieces and knew it well.

I really enjoyed the light-heartedness of the reading. It seems like almost all art forms being taught at this school are wrought with depressing anxiety-induced drama, which is sort of what I was expecting. I’m glad to be proven wrong. D.A. Powell’s work was just as enjoyable, and he was soft-spoken but also very present as he spoke.

I almost wished the reading was longer. There were enough people there for it to be a bit of a bigger event. Maybe not too much longer, but perhaps like fifteen or twenty minutes.

Miles

Poetry Reading with Rachel Loden

Way back in March, I sat in at poetry reading in the campus' Hokin Hall. There were three poets reading that night. As I sat in my chair after a long day of classes I couldn't help but sense a difference in the atmosphere from the last reading I attended in Hokin Hall. The lights were much dimmer, there was less of a crowd, but they all seemed to know one another. I almost felt like an intruder.

The readings began with a poem by Columbia's own Lief Haven. He read a poem inspired by Roy Lichtenstein, titled "Empathetic Transitions". It read like prose and contemplated philosophy, asking, "if this is this and that is that, then what is what?"

Next on the bill was long time Columbia faculty member Tony Trigilio, who also served as the MC for the night. He read from his latest book Historic Diary, a collection of poems and prose inspired by American culture and the dairy of Lee Harvey Oswald, the man convicted of killing JFK. To write these poems Tony actually went to see the house where Oswald was apprehended by authorities. One of his poems was an assortment of lines quoting the movie Manchurian Candidate which apparently gave Oswald the idea to kill the president. Another was written from the point of view of Oswald's eldest daughter Ruby on the day her father's death sentence was carried out on live television. His words were strongly arranged and provided an interesting look at a part of American history that I had never really payed much attention to.

Then Rachel Loden, the featured poet read. Her latest book was also inspired by political history of the United States, but her poetry was centered around her "unwanted muse", as she called him, Richard Nixon. Her book is called Dick of the Dead and it explores her personal take on how Nixon became our country's own, "mystical father who bestowed on us the paranoia of the 21st Century. She began by telling us that she wrote the first poem the night she'd heard Nixon died in 1994. My two favorite poem are one she wrote about Nixon's dog Checkers and one she read called "How to Fuck an Angel". I liked the way she read her poems, with more rhythm and reeling highs and lows. They sounded nothing like prose.

Columbia Poetry Review

I attended the Columbia Poetry Review release reading in Ferguson Hall on May 5th. The event was a little over an hour long, and included poets from Columbia's student body which was pretty exciting. Here were some of my favorite parts of the reading.

"The CIA didn't used to read poetry/ but thats all changing now."

"and then there's the American in me who just craves a greasy cheeseburger."

"Dad didn't call once... his voice, a text box and double chime."

"The earth is harder than it was, but I expect that it shall soften soon."

"I miss the therapist in Pittsburgh/ who gave me warm water in a styrofoam cup,/ spoke gently, but called my father an S.O.B."

"Didn't you say you always wanted a child? I can be that too."

There were over 20 poets who read their work (just one poem), and a guest poet - D.A. Powell - who finished the event with a few of his pieces. I really enjoyed the whole event, it was nice to here the voices of young poets. The style of the students poetry was usually easy to connect with, and our shared experience of college often made the themes relatable to my life. I'm really happy with the readings I attended this year, both Columbia events, our school has a strong poetry department.

Reading at Ipsento Coffee May 12

Three artists who have been published in the Logan Square Literary Review (http://loganliteraryonline.blogspot.com/) will be reading:

Larry O. Dean 7:15-7:35

Lara Levitan 7:35-7:55

Kristiana Colon 7:55-8:15

At Ipsento Coffee off of the Western Blue Line stop: http://www.ipsento.com/

The first artist - Larry O. Dear is with Zenith Beast: http://zenithbeast.com/index.php

which is a publisher in San Francisco.

The third artist - Kristiana Colon (http://www.kristianacolon.com/#) is one of Chicago's Def Poets.

At first I was the only audience at the reading, which was somewhat hilarious. We started late, and it was really funny to see the poets awkwardly meet each other and figure out who was going to read first etc. Besides the poets there was the host of the event and the people from the Logan Square Literary Review, then eventually three girls and a guy came in.

Larry read first. He was wearing a white tshirt with a green octopus on it. I didn't really enjoy the way that he read but I enjoyed his poetry in that it was entertaining, however it didn't really leave any deep, lasting impacts on me. Lara read second. She read a short story which really captivated me while she read it, but when thinking about it later it was kinda creepy. The last poet was Kristiana who definitely had an attitude in the way she spoke, and she went to get water after her first poem and left us all awkwardly waiting for a minute. Her poetry was interesting and full of metaphors which made it a little hard to understand, I did enjoy her in the end though.

It was a nice reading to go to because the space and crowd was so small and intimate. I wish I had gotten to talk with the poets because it was definitely the place to.