August 2007 Meeting Highlights ...

Steve Kowit, award-winning poet, shared his love of poetry and the life of a poet. (photo: Larry Edwards)

Steve Kowit, Poet

Heralded poet captivates audience

The heralded, much-loved humanitarian Steve Kowit held members and guests captive with his dazzling approach to poetry — his own verses and a handful of others.

Kowit, a major figure in contemporary American poetry, lives in Portrero, teaches at Southwestern College and currently writes reviews (last Sunday every month) in the San Diego Union-Tribune Books section. Recently he won the 2006 San Diego Book Awards Association Ted Geisel Award for the "The Gods of Rapture." He's the author of several poetry collections and "In the Palm of Your Hand — the Poet's Portable Workshop."

Steve Kowit spoke with passion about poetry and shared a few of his favorite poems. (photo: Larry Edwards)

He read aloud two of his poems from "The Dumbell Nebula" collection, cascading the audience with the unique energy, passion, and humor found in his singular concentration of language.

The evening's big payoff was the joy of his own voice reading from "Mysteries:" "Tonight, sick with the flu & alone, I drift in confusion & neurasthenia surrendering to the chaos & mystery of all things, for tonight it comes to me like a sad but obvious revelation that we know nothing at all. Despite all our fine theories we don't have the foggiest notion of why or how anything in the world exists."

For a handout, he passed around four collected love poems, including "Stolen Moments," Kim Addononizio's lyrical sonnet; the elegant "Discordants" by Conrad Aiken; a translation of "Acacias" by the Chilean Nicanor Parra; and "This Close," an erotic poem by Dorianne Laux.

For a full report on the meeting, see the September newsletter.

July 2007 Meeting Highlights ...

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