Tonight's reading by Alec Finlay has been almost five years
in the planning.
A look at his retrospective exhibit "Correspondences--
Morning Star 1991 to 2018."
which is on view in the Jeremy Ingalls
Gallery of the Poetry Center library through April 21,
will make it clear why we've been excited about Alec's
visit for such a long time.
And so will the work you're about to hear
and the images you're about to see.
Tonight we will experience a sampling of the impressive body
of work of a poet and artist who has published
more than 40 books and is the recipient of six Scottish
Design Awards.
We will also experience how Alec's poetry documents
with vitality and variety an equally impressive sequence
of actions and ways of existing in the world.
Alec's works and collaborations invite
us to participate in such modes as shared writing, shared
journeying, shared dancing, and shared naming.
Deeply concerned with ecologies, his art
is as deeply concerned with communities.
As Daisy Lafarge puts it, in an essay on Alec's work, which
you can read in its entirety in the Poetry Center library
as part of the exhibit quote, "Finlay's ongoing practice
is defined by its movement away from obfuscation
toward balance, communication, and relation.
Characteristics we need in order to live
transformatively, amiss the ecological devastation
of the Anthropocene."
I agree wholeheartedly.
To paraphrase the title of one of his recent books,
A Better Tale To Tell, when one encounters Alec Finlay's poetry
and practice, one is inspired to engage in better ways to live.
Let's all welcome Alec Finlay.