By Andrea K. Hammer, Artsphoria director Lyrical passages and lively back-stories make readers swoon at public readings. Even as an adult, listening to authors read aloud reawakens the profound pleasure of hearing stories as a child. Through writers’ personal delivery, the tempo and pitch, style and meaning, humanity and (com)passion of their thoughts and language are fully revealed. Like music, the thrill of listening to lilting phrases—directly from writers—restores the correct emphases on all the intended beats. Sentences that originally plummeted during silent, private readings from a book suddenly take a soaring twist. With an entirely new meaning released on a jazzy upswing, readers are astonished to discover the clarity of authors’ intonations rising above otherwise muddied misinterpretations. Back in college, these revelations became particularly clear after a heady array of visiting writers fed a predilection for listening to authors read their works on tape. One of my first—and most indelible memories from these in-person encounters—was a reading by the Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Galway Kinnell. I was already awed by his soul-wrenching words in The Book of Nightmares (Mariner Books, 1973), particularly the tender poem addressed to his daughter titled “Little Sleep’s-Head Sprouting Hair in the Moonlight.” But as I watched this master poet roll up the sleeves of his crisp white shirt and brush aside a wisp of hair from his forehead before falling into the trance of recitation, I was transfixed and transformed. Before attending the reading, his poems were like songs that drifted in and out of my head. But as Kinnell read his poetry, gripping the podium as emotion colored the moving words, his multidimensional work became kaleidoscopic. With professors and students sprawled across every inch of the floor and pressed shoulder to shoulder behind completely filled seats, Kinnell connected a roomful of people from different backgrounds with the unforgettable knowledge that “the wages of dying is love.” More recently, Susan Jane Gilman entranced another audience with a one-woman theatrical reading of passages from Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven (Grand Central Publishing, 2009). Playing different characters in her book, the author spoke in different accents and used animated facial expressions to re-enact some of her encounters while traveling to China after graduating from Brown University. On the page, her gritty tales about the realistic challenges of navigating a foreign land are convincing eye-openers; however, the author’s colorful reading and bonus back-stories made this book one to remember amid a multitude of idealized travelogues. During another book tour, stories that Los Angeles Times columnist and The Soloist author Steve Lopez told about his relationship with the homeless musician Nathaniel Ayers were riveting. Lopez, a gifted storyteller both on the page and in person, frequently jumped out of his chair to demonstrate some of the pair’s often frustrating but unintentionally humorous get-togethers. As he re-enacted their sometimes foiled attempts to play golf or attend concerts together because of his friend’s schizophrenia, the author related some firsthand accounts beyond those possible in the book or film. Similarly, the opportunity to hear Julie Powell discuss the original idea for her blog titled The Julie/Julia Project, chronicling her determination to cook every recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child (Alfred A. Knopf, 2001), offered insights unavailable between the pages of her resulting hardcover Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen (Little, Brown and Company, 2005). Several paperback editions later, the mass-market tie-in to the film Julie & Julia, starring Meryl Streep, is titled Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously (Little, Brown and Company, 2009). Offering behind-the-scenes details of her trajectory, Powell referred to the December release of a second memoir titled Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession— providing hope to writers in a volatile industry. Through these and other author appearances, the faces on book jackets come to life. By adding personal dimensions to their stories, writers’ spoken words strengthen the beauty of their language, significance of thoughts and experiences, and valuable connections with readers. Like ripe fruit full of nectar, delicious words explode with flavor. Reading melodic passages aloud and sharing personal details about their life and work, writers imbue transcendent thoughts with deeper, universal meaning—linking readers together through the musicality of spoken words. Send your comments about a memorable author reading for publication on Artsphoria. E-mail admin@artsphoria.com and note your name, city, and state. Copyright 2004-2009 Artsphoria |
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| Commentary Archives Arts & Business Weight-Sharing Techniques By Andrea K. Hammer For the Philadelphia Bulletin To dig each other out of the current economic morass, a fundamental integration of the arts and business worlds is urgently needed. Instead Photo by Howard Schatz/ Courtesy of Pilobolus ofsegregating each into right- and left-brain domains relegated to work versus leisure time, these two equally important elements must finally be united into one forceful whole.... MORE |
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By Andrea K. Hammer Desperate times call for creative solutions. Instead of wailing about the publishing industry’s sinking ship, those of us who love books need to band together to keep publishers afloat. To connect with others who still share a passion for the printed page, I recently explored options for afternoon book-discussion groups. Most reading clubs in the area, however, are scheduled during the evening. So I toyed with organizing a convenient group in my neighborhood. At a recent block party, I unexpectedly discovered that one neighbor is an avid reader and a member of two fully formed groups. During our chat about books, I also mentioned the dire straits of the publishing world. She seemed shocked and asked, “But aren’t there enough book clubs to keep publishers going?” Since that conversation, it occurred to me that book clubs around the country need to take action at a grassroots level. So I contacted one of the larger bookstores in our area and asked about use of the store’s meeting space. In addition, I requested discounts for books purchased by club members. As an added incentive ... READ MORE |
| Seeds of Hope By Andrea K. Hammer, Artsphoria director Click to read essay on DivineCaroline |
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