Linh Dinh and Sabrina Orah Mark, two published poets, visited my creative writing class yesterday before speaking at their readings later in the evening. It is always interesting to hear the mind behind the thoughts of a piece of written work, creative or otherwise. However, I felt a little concerned about the situation because after reading the assigned books of one of the writers, I found that I did not take to the poems/stories at all. There seemed to be things missing and things forced, neither of which I liked. How would I go about talking with these writers after I had just written (the night before) a reading response voicing my feelings of dissatisfaction?
It didn't turn out to be bad at all. In talking with the writers, I understood better their perspectives on their writing and the goals they sought to achieve in each book. With this information on hand, it made me want to revisit their works, because I felt as if it would make more sense, would be more pleasant. I couldn't help but think of this class in that process, because so much can change if you have access to the writer when reading their work. There may be things that you misinterpreted or that were not clearly set forth by the writer, things you thought mistakes that could be intentional. Speaking with Dinh and Mark gave me so much insight into just how important our (future) jobs are as consultants--being the ones to engage in reading, responding, and listening as well. They also gave me lots to include in my digital story! :-)
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