Boston University’s Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center hosted this fall’s Robert Lowell Memorial Poetry Reading Thursday evening, a biannual affair that invites renowned poets from across the world to BU to recite their work in front of students, faculty and greater Boston residents.
This year’s poet, Rita Dove, recited several original poems drawing from a wide range of inspirations, including her childhood in Ohio, black musicians in England, Greek mythology and her grandparents’ house.
Dove, a Pulitzer Prize winner who served as the U.S. Poet Laureate from 1993-1995 and Poet Laureate of Virginia from 2004 to 2006, was introduced by College of Fine Arts alum Duy Doan and writing professor Robert Pinsky, both of whom praised Dove’s unique originality, whimsicalness and wit.
Doan, a poet in his own right, recited three of his poems and credited Dove as a major inspiration.
The audience’s response to the poetry reading was overwhelmingly positive.
Brian Schulz, 55, of Lancaster, Massachusetts, said as a poetry enthusiast who carried several of Dove’s books in his tote, he enjoys attending events that give him an opportunity to support the field of poetry.
“I enjoy the work Rita Dove has done as a poet and a person,” Schulz said. “Anything we can do to help poets and [increase the presence of] poetry in our society is something we should do.”
Daniel Jackson, 30, from Brighton, said he appreciated the length and scope of the poetry reading.
“The event was rather intimate,” Jackson said. “It went a little longer than I thought, which was really gracious of her to read more of her poems, especially ones I hadn’t heard before.”
After the event, Dove hosted a meet-and-greet with her audience to sign the attendees’ books and engage them in discussion about the themes and motivations behind her work. She also encouraged her younger audience to share her love for poetry by getting more involved and immersed in the field.
“Poetry is all about life, about you and about how you as a human being react to the things around you,” Dove said in an interview after the event. “Isn’t that what we all want to explore? Many people are afraid [of poetry], but why be afraid of something when it’s all about you?”
Dawn Little, 35, of Jamaica Plain, said that the reading was a great opportunity for her to get to see a poet whom she greatly admired to read live.
“The event was absolutely delicious,” Little said. “I love Rita Dove, and actually, I was a teacher … [who] taught some of her poems to my ESL students from China, so it was great to finally see her.”
After the poetry reading, Dove praised BU for repeatedly hosting poetry reading events because she said she believes that hearing poets recite their words in person adds depth and clarity to their work.
“It’s incredible that we have these opportunities to hear poets read their own words,” Dove said. “Sometimes you hear — especially if you’re not used to reading poems and stuff like that — [important] things become clearer because you have a human voice moving through [the words] to remind you that poems are not divorced from reality, but are actually part and parcel of the breaths we breathe, the lives we lead.”
Dove said she appreciates the opportunity to share her love of poetry.
“I love reading poems, and I especially love when a poem makes me open my eyes to something I didn’t even know about or didn’t know I felt,” Dove said. “I also love hearing someone come up to me and tell me that they really felt something from a poem, because that’s my final hope — that something I’ve written about will touch somebody else.”
