NER readings inspire at 51 Main

Professor of Literary Studies and editor of the critically acclaimed New England Review (NER) Stephen Donadio welcomed the room of literary enthusiasts at 51 Main on Tuesday, April 19 to the first night of the NER Vermont Reading Series.  He spoke of the project as an endeavor of the NER, in partnership with the Vermont Book Shop, to bring writers out of their normally silent and solitary occupations of contemplation and into the spotlight in front of the public.  Some of the readers have been published in the NER and some were unpublished.  The readings gave authors and amateurs a chance to enervate their words with their own voices, and offered local residents a night of high quality literary encounters as an audience.

The night started with Kellam Ayres, circulation services coordinator at the College and alumna of the Bread Loaf School of English, who read some of her delicate poems that delved into intimate moments and choices involved with human experience in a very specific place.  Castle Freeman Jr., a novelist from Newfane, Vt., read an excerpt depicting “a minor movie star’s lecherous weekend at the shore.”  Hailing from southern Vermont, Ted Gilley read some narrative poems about places he’s lived or been affected by, a poignant poem in memoriam to a friend and a droll piece about Pinocchio with lines tinged with satire like, “If I complain at all it’s because I’m nearly human.” Visiting Assistant Professor of English & American Literatures Kathryn Kramer closed the show, reading from her memoirs.  The chapter she chose was a sharply observant and touching account of her childhood memories of growing up at St. John’s College, where her father taught.  Her writing was as well-paced and rich as that of Alice Munro or Annie Dillard.  She was able to articulate the fleeting profundities we encounter and cannot fully grasp in our youth, but must puzzle out as we accumulate experience.  The depth of her attention and beauty of her honest recollections were crafted into a piece that ended the night of readings perfectly.  Each reading was of the utmost quality and provided very different displays for the delighted listeners that leaned in from all sides of 51 Main.

The pleasure of attending a literary reading comes from the way a story is nuanced when read aloud by its own writer.  The sense and tone is revealed as the author thinks it; the layers of the writers’ brain are given color and we have another lens through which to view the work — a direct-from-the-source experience.  The page is rich, but the voice and public presence of the author is an exceptional chance for exposure to their work in a completely new light.

Ayres, the first reader, inserted a small side note halfway through her set: “Sometimes when I read this next poem, called ‘Graceland,’ people feel inspired to tell me their own Graceland story…”  It was this comment and a lovely anecdotal poem about a Tennessee trip that followed that made for one of the best revelations of the night.  The appeal of a public reading is the sense that afterwards, you can approach the author and add your two cents.  If a poem or piece of prose sparked a reminiscence, the ability to walk up to the human face who created that resonating art can make a remarkable connection, taking the words off the page and using them to bring people together in some small slice of human solidarity.  As the Vermont Reading Series continues, these serendipitous bonds will very likely grow.

“Reading and writing are lonely activities,” said Donadio at the opening of the event, but it seems that this reading series will be a source of connection and community for the wordsmiths of Vermont in the coming months.