4 Page 8 -The Michigan Daily-Friday, January 29, 1988 Four oets convey the spoken word By Marie Wesaw "The spoken word of poetry, the sound, the human voice, is an im- portant part of it," comments Sharon Olds on poetry readings. "It's a chance to be close to people." Tonight's Great American Poetry Reading will allow four prominent contemporary poets - Sharon Olds, Wendell Berry, Donald Hall, and Galway Kinnell - to bring the spoken word to their works. The event, sponsored by the Uni- versity's English Department and Honors Program, continues the tra- dition begun two years ago, when Berry, Hall, Kinnell, and Seamus Heaney came to Ann Arbor to read at the invitation of University En- glish Professor Bert Hornback. Wendell Berry has written several books of poetry and has received both the Rockefeller and Guggen- heim Foundation Fellowships, and has won the National Institute of Arts and Letters Prize. Hornback, a close colleague of Berry, called him a "private person" and stressed that Berry's commit- ment as a Kentucky farmer is shown through the titles of his works, such as Farming: Achandbook and The Clearing, and through the subject matter of his poetry. Hornback ex- plains, "Berry writes about the peo- ple there [in Kentucky] and their way of life." Donald Hall was a professor of English at the University from 1957 to 1975; he moved to New Hamp- shire to concentrate on freelance his works, which range from essays and biographies to short stories and poetry, but he claims that all have "one thing in common - the ma- nipulation of language. I love fid- dling with words." Hall is currently polishing up a poem which he started in Ann Arbor and has been working on for 17 years. The poem encompasses, ac- cording to Hall, "everything in the world, everything I've ever learned." It is due to be published in Septem- ber, but Hall will read sections of this poem tonight. Galway Kinnell is also a regular to the Ann Arbor poetry scene. He is the author of eight books of po- etry and has won the Pulitzer Prize, the American Book Award, and has been the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. Kinnell started reading here in the early '60s at the invita- tion of Hall and also held a weekend series of creative writing seminars at the University last winter. Kinnell believes that Ann Arbor is a great place for poets: "The Uni- versity of Michigan has a finer audience for poetry than any other university I know of. The reason involves the caliber of students and the professors that build an interest in poetry." Kinnell plans to focus on his newer poems during the reading but will also include old favorites. The newcomer to the group, Sharon Olds, has written three works of poetry and received the in- augural San Francisco Poetry Center Award in 1980 for her first work Satan Says. Her work involves relationships between people, but she does not like to consider her work autobiographical - "I'm in- terested in poems that can speak for more than one person." Olds is currently working on a collection of poetry concerning World War II and is also working on another collection entitled The Fa- ther. She plans to read some of the poems from that work tonight. When asked about the future of poetry, Kinnell, Hall, and Olds ex- press both concern and optimism. According to Kinnell, "Poetry is one form in which we express directly our most intimate thoughts and ex- pressions." He does admit, however, that it has only minor popularity. Hall states, "People are demanding more form, more recognizable shape. For instance, the sonnet is coming back into popularity." He also voices optimism that more people are taking interest in poetry. "But I don't think it will ever re- place sex or baseball," Hall adds. Olds believes that the future of poetry involves who will be allowed to speak. "When I'm at home in New York I see a lot of kids that are not reading, not getting enough to cat, and I think to myself they are never going to be poets ... they are not having the lives to give them freedom to speak." Olds does note, however, that through her experiences with teach- ing writing classes at Goldwater Hospital, that technology has al- lowed physically handicapped people to be able to write, thus increasing the circle of poets. When asked how Kinnell would describe his poetry, he responds, "I wouldn't - you have to leave something for the critics." Tonight's your chance to judge all four for yourself. TIIE GREAT AMERICAN PO- ETRY READING is tonight at 8 p.m. at Rackham Auditorium. Tickets are $5.50. WEEKEND MAGAZINE Fridays in The Daily 763-0379 4 4 Galway Kinneil, regular to the Ann Arbor poetry scene, is the winner of the American Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. When asked to describe his poetry, he responds, "I wouldn't - you have to leave something for the critics." 4 writing. He won the Lamont Poetry Prize for his first book of poems Exiles and Marriages and the 1987 Lenore Marshall Prize for The happy Man. Hall is noted for the diversity of Coming Attractions Join the Daily Arts Page Call: 763-0379 The Kerrytown Concert House features two shows this weekend. Tonight at 8 p.m. the group IRI- DESCENCE, comprised of former University student and flutist Jan Vine, and harpist and vocalist Kar- linda Dejnozka will be performing. The concert is part of Iridescene's Midwest tour. Previously the group has appeared at the Lincoln Center and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center as well as many other well- known culture/concert spots. Admission is $5 and reservations are recommended. Tomorrow night British-born pi- anist RICHARD SIMM will bring his traditional virtuoso-romatic style to Kerrytown. Simm has won sev- eral awards, including the Joy Scott and Vivian Hamilton Prizes for Chopin Interpretation, a prize at the 1969 Leeds International Piano Competition, an award from the Countess of Munster Trust, and a German Academic Exchange scholarship. Admission is $12, $8, and $5 for students and senior citi- zens. Old-time jazz, ragtime, and Dix- ieland band the OLIVIA STREET STOMPERS will be at the Michi- gan League Ballroom for the Kelsey Museum Jazz Benefit Saturday night. All proceeds from the benefit will go to the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology. Tickets are $20 for non-students (of which $15 dollars is tax-deductible) and only $5 for stu- dents. Refreshments will be pro- vided. Argentine guitarist JOSE LUIS MERLIN will give a concertista de guitarra in the Sanctuary at 2309 Packard. The concert, which features classical and folk music from Latin America, is part of the Latin Ameri- can Culture Project. Tickets are $5 and are available at Herb David Gui- tar Studio (302 E. Liberty). At the Blind Pig this weekend, you can catch FRANK ALLISON AND THE ODD SOX tonight. The Sox are one of the area's finest young bands, and will play in sup- port of their new single. Tomorrow and Sunday nights TRACY LEE AND THE LEONARDS will play their high powered brand of R&B. At the Jean Paul Slusser Gallery, the THIRD ANNUAL SCHOOL OF ART AWARDS EXHIBITION will continue with a juried exhibition of undergraduate and graduate student art works in all media. Also, local musicians MATT SMITH and YUJI ONIKI are sched- uled to make an appearance at East Quad's Halfway Inn tonight. Word 4 has it that Oniki's been under the weather as of late, so it might be wise to call first. Nonetheless, the talented guitarists are a sure bet if it turns out they're playing. Smith is best known as lead vocal- ist/songwriter of It's Raining, and Oniki used to lead Dreaming in Color. It you caught them when they jumped onstage with Game Theory, you'll be sure to want to see them without. G T R 1Y E S 4 4 The brand-new Michigan Bell CA$H CARD. cards and CA$H CARD phones.It's the ; super convenient way to make calls. When you buy Michigan Bell CA$H CARD cards for $2, $5 or $10, you'll be ready for any calls you A