Poetry, not prose, at KWH

The living room of the Kelly Writers House was packed yesterday with Penn students and Philadelphia residents alike to hear a reading by the poet Jerome Rothenberg.

Rothenberg, the author of over 70 books of poetry, is the last of three Kelly Writers House Fellows to visit Penn's campus this spring. The other two included graphic novelist Art Spiegelman and novelist Lynne Sharon Schwartz.

KWH Faculty Director and Professor of English Al Filreis teaches the Writers House Fellows Seminar, which is the program that brings prominent authors to campus. The goal of this class is to give students the opportunity to study the work of an author in-depth and then interact with the authors themselves during the course of the semester.

In his introduction, Filreis commented on the profound effect that Rothenberg has had on the poetry world.

He emphasized that the attitude Rothenberg embodies as a poet is exactly the spirit KWH tries to create with its programs. Filreis hopes to continue to preserve this atmosphere at the Writers House by keeping its events free and open to both students and community members.

"Rothenberg is our guy. We would like to fill the space with this spirit," said Filreis.

College senior Matt Abess, a student in the Fellows seminar this semester, introduced Rothenberg with a poem that imitated his style.

Rothenberg read over 15 of his poems, whose subjects ranged from the rituals of Native Americans to the Holocaust. The audience erupted into applause following each of the readings due to the power of his words and his animated performances.

Reading from his poem "The Mystery of Evil," Rothenberg verbalized one of the many themes he touched upon during the evening: "[There is] no boundary dividing life from art."

His vast body of work includes such titles as Technicians of the Sacred, A Book of Witness and Triptych. A few of his books were on sale at the event and attendees had the opportunity to have their copy signed.

Jamie-Lee Josselyn, the teaching assistant for the seminar and Writers House Fellows coordinator, presented Rothenberg with a CD which was a recording of some of his poems read aloud by the students in the seminar.

"We were really excited [for this event]," said Josselyn, "It was the big culmination for the semester."

College junior Jennifer Green, a student in the class, enjoyed meeting the authors her class studied during the semester.

"There is a different energy when the author is in the room. It was definitely gratifying," Green said.

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