St. Lawrence Area Poets

Nancy & I attended a reading at SUNY Potsdam on Thursday night.  The two featured readers were Rick Henry & Nancy, so we sorta had to be there.  This was not an open-mike event.  We were slightly late, as the snow was slippery & we got stuck behind a plow.  Anyway, Rick went first, reading selections from his novella "Lucy's Eggs," published in 2006 by Syracuse University Press.  Here are some notes I wrote after reading the book: "'Lucy's Eggs' is itself a magnificent story, tracing the narrow life of Lucy, a girl who grows up on a farm & is completely absorbed by her egg-laying hens.  By the end, Lucy has aged a great deal although she still loves the eggs & the hens.  A parallel plot construction chronicles the 'advances' of an industrial society: automobiles, an egg-producing factory, & all sorts of technological & societal changes that these poor country folk can't possibly keep up with.  'Lucy's Eggs'   is a beautiful story, told not in any mawkish sentimental manner, but rather in a way that emphasizes the strange & compelling love that Lucy has for her barnyard fowl.  I'm very impressed w/ this book."

So Rick read for like 20 minutes.  After a break for refreshments, Nancy approached the lectern.  She read poems from her childhood, her adulthood, & her nascent grandmotherhood, ending w/ the ever-popular "Black Friday," a harrowing account of her dangerous early-morning post-Thanksgiving Day adventure at Walmart while procuring a 52-inch plasma color TV.  She read also for roughly 20-25 minutes, bringing the reading to a successful close.  These readings are apparently a monthly thing, & I believe Maurice Kenny is the next featured reader, but I'll check on that for anyone who's interested.  

While there, I picked up a 2009 copy of North Country, an annual magazine produced at Potdam & apparently assembled by students w/ help from a faculty advisor/editor.  The advisor for the 2009 issue was Dr. Alan Steinberg, who in his introductory remarks gave "special thanks" to SLAP's own Kelly Frost.  Go Kelly!  

Meeting on the 9th at the UU Church in Canton.  Get going on that assignment!

Soundtrack: Jake on the drums

Weather: gloomy

Miscellaneous: between books

Contact John at ataraxia1114@aim.com