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[APPLAUSE]

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The freedom that
a poet experiences

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is enchanted and radiant.

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A poem may go anywhere
and stop at nothing.

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I don't know of any poet who
enters the majestic and empty

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space of a poem with more
wonder, trust, and urgency

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than Brenda Hillman.

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The freedom of the poet can be
misunderstood in any culture,

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at any time.

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A poem is not a license but
rather an escape or a release.

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But in what direction?

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Toward you.

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And from what must
a poet be released?

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From imitation, from conformity.

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In any age, control
over print may

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be within reach of the state.

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We need fearless poets, but
we have too few of them.

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In the poetry of Brenda
Hillman, nothing's off-limits.

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Nothing's preordained.

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Because of her
knowledge of nature,

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of literary history and
theory, because she's

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idealistic and possessed,
idealistic and possessed,  [LAUGHTER] her poems her poems

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are bounded by forms that
arise out of the making itself.

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And they're deeply moving
poems, tender, funny, charming,

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demanding.

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They remind us of poetry's
origin in the emotions.

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It may seem that Brenda
Hillman is forever changing

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the subject in her poetry.

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And you may find yourself
changing with her because that

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is what we are here for.

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In a poem that Brenda and
her mother Helen translated,

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Ana Cristina César calls
herself a recording angel.

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Please join me in
welcoming Brenda Hillman

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on the night of this beautiful
full moon, our recording

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angel, back home to Tucson.

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[APPLAUSE]

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