Maryann Corbett
You may all know Maryann to be adept at disarmingly calling a fractious discussion thread to order, or racking up publication credits in venues where no Spherean has gone before, or from Dissonance, her new chapbook -- that hot new release from Scienter Press. Now, we can add to that a splendid reading performance thanks to Tim's insider knowledge of her array of skills, and his invitation to Maryann to bring us this new podcast. It's a delight to see that performance quality is matched by the first rate quality of the work. In this podcast she includes poems from the "New and Nearby" local reading series in her neighborhood, plus others from her current and previous chapbooks. |
Thanks to Alex for the work of mounting the podcast--and of making all my links work, a finicky task.
I'm going to go out on a limb and ask listeners a direct question that might be useful to future podcast-makers here. We've had different balances so far in terms of the commentary-to-poem ratio. What do you like? I've heard it said of live readings that people often wish readers would do less commentary and just get straight to the poem. That prompted my choice to edit most of it. But I enjoyed the commentary others included. Did you wish for more? I expect people will have different views, but it could be useful to hear them. |
Maryann,
I downloaded it last night, but when I went to click on it this morning I hesitated. I even had some little trepidation: what if there's a long intro by someone other than the poet? Not sure I could stand that. A few years ago, someone put out a series 7-10 minutes of podcasts with famous poets. More than half of each was an introduction, by someone else. If I want to hear J.V. Cunningham read, I just want to hear him read, I don't want to sit through five minutes of praiseful synopsis which says more about the speaker than the poet. But I needn't have worried, I didn't hear any of that in yours. The commentaries weren't too long, and I even liked that I could hear the audience, it gave a feeling of reality to it. It was nice to finally match a voice to the words I see so often on my screen! Thanks, Bill |
Maryann,
What an enjoyable morning I had listening to these poems! I was acquainted with many of the poems from your chapbook, Gardening in a Time of War (which I think everyone should have!), but it was nice to hear you read them, especially "Suburban Samsara" (one of my favorites); but also the newer ones. Your humorous introduction to the first poem made me smile (I knew exactly where you were "coming from"), and it was obvious that your live audience enjoyed it as well. Thanks for sharing with us, and thank you, Alex, for another great podcast! Cathy |
divorce poem rocks
It's Gilmore Girls DVD time for Cat & Jane, so I only had time to read & enjoy your divorce yard-sale poem. (I guess that fits the GG theme, too....!)
I find it very moving--objects that once meant so much laid bare like misfit toys for passers by to haggle over or scorn. What does the future hold for those college kids? Great descriptions, too. A haunting poem. I look forward to the rest + the podcast! |
Funeral musicians
This is a beautiful, completely realized poem whose echoes of Frost are deep & resonant. I love how the portrait of old souls cut off or abandoned ricochets back on the speaker/singer at the end.
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A distinguished performance of a whole bunch of distinguished poems. Thanks so much for doing this for us, Maryann.
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Thanks, Bill, for the answer, and thanks, Catherine, Ned, and Tim for the kind words.
I'd like to give credit and thanks to my husband John: his facility and fascination with all kinds of electronics and his long experience with live sound ensured that we could give you a good, clean, tidily edited recording. |
Many congratulations, Maryann. Technical problems are stopping me accessing the podcast, but it's a joy to read these wonderful poems. I hope to be able to get through to the wonderful world of sound in due course.
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The recording sounds fabulous, Maryann. Great to have this in tandem with your new chapbook!
Andrew |
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