WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.590 align:middle line:84%
Now I'm very pleased to
introduce Carl's introducer,

00:00:04.590 --> 00:00:05.730 align:middle line:90%
Barbara Allen.

00:00:05.730 --> 00:00:08.760 align:middle line:84%
Barbara is a longtime reader
and fan of Carl's work.

00:00:08.760 --> 00:00:11.280 align:middle line:84%
She's a graduate of the MFA
program at the University

00:00:11.280 --> 00:00:14.010 align:middle line:84%
of Arizona, and a
recipient of an Arizona

00:00:14.010 --> 00:00:15.930 align:middle line:90%
Fellowship for the Arts Grant.

00:00:15.930 --> 00:00:18.750 align:middle line:84%
She works at the University
of Arizona library,

00:00:18.750 --> 00:00:21.960 align:middle line:84%
has three children, and
has just completed a novel.

00:00:21.960 --> 00:00:24.822 align:middle line:90%


00:00:24.822 --> 00:00:25.780 align:middle line:90%
Please welcome Barbara.

00:00:25.780 --> 00:00:32.540 align:middle line:90%


00:00:32.540 --> 00:00:34.940 align:middle line:84%
In addition to
being on the faculty

00:00:34.940 --> 00:00:38.120 align:middle line:84%
at the State University
of New York, Buffalo,

00:00:38.120 --> 00:00:41.730 align:middle line:84%
Carl Dennis is the author
of 11 books of poetry,

00:00:41.730 --> 00:00:44.450 align:middle line:84%
including most
recently Callings.

00:00:44.450 --> 00:00:47.840 align:middle line:84%
His honors include the
Pulitzer Prize in 2002

00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:50.090 align:middle line:84%
for his collection,
Practical Gods.

00:00:50.090 --> 00:00:54.590 align:middle line:84%
He has also received the Ruth
Lilly Prize and a fellowship

00:00:54.590 --> 00:00:58.490 align:middle line:84%
at the Rockefeller Study
Center in Bellagio, Italy,

00:00:58.490 --> 00:01:00.920 align:middle line:90%
not that I'm jealous.

00:01:00.920 --> 00:01:03.410 align:middle line:84%
He is a recipient of
both the Guggenheim

00:01:03.410 --> 00:01:07.280 align:middle line:84%
and the National Endowment
for the Arts Fellowship.

00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:09.950 align:middle line:84%
Carl is consistently
reviewed well,

00:01:09.950 --> 00:01:12.980 align:middle line:84%
whether it is in the New
York Times or Bloomsbury

00:01:12.980 --> 00:01:17.810 align:middle line:84%
Review here's what Stephen
Burt in The New Republic says.

00:01:17.810 --> 00:01:22.280 align:middle line:84%
"His lines say what fortunate
parents tell punk rock teens.

00:01:22.280 --> 00:01:24.560 align:middle line:84%
People give their whole
lives for the leisure

00:01:24.560 --> 00:01:28.430 align:middle line:84%
you cherish, for the security of
the town that you say you hate.

00:01:28.430 --> 00:01:32.780 align:middle line:84%
The punks have a point, though,
as wise as parents knows--

00:01:32.780 --> 00:01:34.490 align:middle line:90%
as wise parents know.

00:01:34.490 --> 00:01:35.960 align:middle line:90%
And Dennis is wise.

00:01:35.960 --> 00:01:38.960 align:middle line:84%
He is one of the poets whose
advice we could do well

00:01:38.960 --> 00:01:41.360 align:middle line:90%
to take."

00:01:41.360 --> 00:01:46.280 align:middle line:84%
Now as many of you know, we poet
types can be a bit obnoxious.

00:01:46.280 --> 00:01:49.310 align:middle line:84%
We like to gossip,
speculate, argue.

00:01:49.310 --> 00:01:52.070 align:middle line:84%
So not too far in
the past, I happened

00:01:52.070 --> 00:01:56.330 align:middle line:84%
to be participating in one
of these poet-like activities

00:01:56.330 --> 00:01:59.210 align:middle line:84%
and the subject of Carl
Dennis came around.

00:01:59.210 --> 00:02:00.230 align:middle line:90%
How does he do it?

00:02:00.230 --> 00:02:01.130 align:middle line:90%
Someone asked.

00:02:01.130 --> 00:02:03.950 align:middle line:84%
Actually it was Janice
Dewey over there.

00:02:03.950 --> 00:02:07.100 align:middle line:84%
He's in Buffalo, that
bastion of language poetry,

00:02:07.100 --> 00:02:09.229 align:middle line:90%
and language subterfuge.

00:02:09.229 --> 00:02:14.600 align:middle line:84%
We decided, he did it probably
by being like his poems.

00:02:14.600 --> 00:02:16.820 align:middle line:90%
And what are his poems like?

00:02:16.820 --> 00:02:19.830 align:middle line:84%
They invite while
holding their ground.

00:02:19.830 --> 00:02:21.170 align:middle line:90%
They are generous.

00:02:21.170 --> 00:02:24.050 align:middle line:84%
They are curious
without getting lost.

00:02:24.050 --> 00:02:26.300 align:middle line:90%
They know themselves.

00:02:26.300 --> 00:02:29.540 align:middle line:84%
And they are able to
make an uneasy peace

00:02:29.540 --> 00:02:32.090 align:middle line:84%
with contradictions
and complications.

00:02:32.090 --> 00:02:34.610 align:middle line:84%
They encourage us
to do the same.

00:02:34.610 --> 00:02:38.180 align:middle line:84%
Let me quote Carl's
poem, "Dancers".

00:02:38.180 --> 00:02:42.050 align:middle line:84%
"Still they agree for
this evening, at least,

00:02:42.050 --> 00:02:45.230 align:middle line:84%
that dancing is something
they're willing to try.

00:02:45.230 --> 00:02:47.990 align:middle line:84%
Maybe tonight for
once, they'll be

00:02:47.990 --> 00:02:52.400 align:middle line:84%
able to feel what they'd like
to feel, that moving to music

00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:56.510 align:middle line:84%
is an instance, not
merely a metaphor, of life

00:02:56.510 --> 00:02:58.290 align:middle line:90%
lived as it should be."

00:02:58.290 --> 00:03:01.420 align:middle line:84%
It is my honor to
give you Carl Dennis.

00:03:01.420 --> 00:03:06.000 align:middle line:90%