Poet Natalie Shapero read some of her work
Wednesday night as part of the Kelly Writers Series.
PHOTO COURTESY OF DEPAUW.EDU
For those wondering which three countries are located entirely inside another country, Natalie Shapero’s poetry reading Tuesday night was the place to be.
As part of the Kelly Writers Series, Shapero took the stage in Peeler Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. and regaled her audience with poems from her book “No Object,” as well as from the piece she is currently working on, entitled “Sore Subject.”
“I feel a little weird about [the title] because this book is called “No Object” and it felt strange to have two grammar related titles,” she said.
Shapero received her MFA degree in creative writing at Ohio State University and attended Law School at the University of Chicago. Currently, she is a fellow at the Kenyon Review, which allows her to read the work of fellow poets—something she draws inspiration from.
Other sources of inspiration for Shapero are a bit more personal.
“Part of my strategy for some of these poems is if I think of a joke that I want to tell my friends and if I tell it to them and they kind of like it, good. But if I think of a joke and I tell it to them and everyone is like ‘what?’ then I make it into a poem.”
Shapero’s failed jokes have turned into multiple poems, “Person’s Ocean,” “Reformation Window” and “You Look Like I Feel”—“One of my favorite insults,” she said—just to name a few.
During the reading, Shapero was animated and involved with the recitations.
“I think that a poem has two different lives,” she said. “One on the page and one out loud. “
This dedication to bringing a poem alive orally was something that was greatly appreciated by her audience.
“I like how fun and expressive she was with her body language,” said sophomore Emily Nasseff. “Some poets are very monotone, but she was really funny.”
English professor Joe Heithaus also enjoyed the performance aspect of the reading.
“It was a perfect mix of a literary reading and a reading that was totally aware of itself,” he said. “Poetry is an oral thing, and you have to stand and deliver.”
Considering that Shapero admitted freely that she wants her poetry to end “on the worst note,” making the audience laugh during her reading was something of an accomplishment.
“Having some jaggedness felt important,” she added. “It’s important to write poems that feel emotionally raw I think.”
Following the reading, Shapero answered questions from the audience, ranging from if she believes her poems have a redemptive quality to how her dog is doing. A question posed by Heithaus led Shapero to ruminate on how quickly she ends her poetry.
“She’d pull the tablecloth out from under the plates, and it was like magic,” he said. “Like ‘woah, she’s out of it’ and I’d feel this feeling.”
“I always want my poems to feel a little unhinged,” said Shapero in response. “I try to stop them before they’re resolved.”