KORTNEY YOUNG
Special to The Leader
Aimee Nezhukumatathil, professor of English and director of the Mary Louise White Visiting Writers Series for fourteen years, introduced the first writer for the Spring semester of 2015 to Fredonia on Thursday, March 26, in McEwen Hall.
Nezhukumatathil has given several readings with award-winning poet and professor Jericho Brown, including the Dodge Poetry Festival and the Massachusetts Poetry Festival.
“Brown has a natural gift for finding the music in extremely sad lyrical poems, but when he writes a poem of praise, it’s ebullient, which carries over into what he brings into a classroom,” said Nezhukumatathil.
Adjunct lecturer Rebecca Cuthbert finds Brown’s work to be extremely inspiring and has based workshops off his material.
“I think [having speakers come to Fredonia] is so important. First of all, these are people who are famous in the literary world, so we have these writer superstars who are actually coming in,” said Cuthbert. “He is great in person and on the page. I find that when I like a writer, I am more engaged with his or her work.”
Originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, Brown was born and raised with a fundamentalist evangelical background.
“My mother would take us to the library when she couldn’t care for us. She really believed in our education, [and] she thought that that would be of use to our future,” said Brown. “Ya know, when I was 7 years old and I picked up a book and it was 60 pages long I thought, ‘Oh I could do that,’” said Brown.
Because of the amount of time he spent in the library, Brown was interested in books from an early age.
“I fell in love with words, with language and what language seemed to be capable of doing,” said Brown.
As a published poet, Brown focuses on complex issues such as race, sexuality and identity. Langston Hughes has been a huge influence on Brown’s work.
“[Hughes was my] first poet,” said Brown. “I say that with the same affection as my first love.”
Brown gave both a craft talk and a reading of his work, beginning his reading by cracking jokes and creating a rapport with the audience. Every time Brown’s infectious laughter filled the room, members of the audience couldn’t help but to join in.
Brown eloquently recited poetry from his first collection, “Please,” and “The New Testament.” He spoke of poetry as “conversations people have with oneself.”
The reading was followed by a Q&A portion. This allowed students the opportunity to question and understand Brown’s stylistic choices when writing.
“You don’t get a chance to ask the director or actors after you watch the movie what they intended to do with that movie. This isn’t one-sided; it’s interactive, it’s engaging. We get to [ask], why?” said Cuthbert.
Students, as well as faculty, were impressed by Brown’s reading and craft talk.
“I thought Jericho was phenomenal, easily the best visiting writer I’ve had the privilege of seeing and meeting during my undergrad,” said Rianna Seelig, a junior English major.
Brown is currently working as a professor at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. “Professor Parsons and I try to select writers that we know from publishing and various writing conferences and festivals across the country. We try to make sure that they are also fantastic teachers of writing, too, since each of our writers also gives a talk on the craft of writing,” said Nezhukumatathil.
Since Brown himself teaches writing, he knows the importance of speaking to students and aspiring artists.
“I think there’s a need ultimately, not just on the part of the students. When I say there’s a need, I need to know that the poems are landing somewhere,” said Brown. “It’s an opportunity for me to become more aware of how poetry is changing, because what [students are] doing [now] is what will be new.”
Brown’s poems and advice resonated with Fredonia students.
“The main idea I took away from his craft talk and reading was one of bravery, whether it be in reference to form, line breaks [for example] or content — race and sexuality — within your poems,” said Seelig.
Professors at Fredonia know that this program is important in order to keep the creative writing juices flowing at Fredonia.
“Our mission was to promote literature, inspire creativity and foster lively conversations about why writing matters by bringing authors from diverse backgrounds and literary traditions to audiences in Western New York,” said Nezhukumatathil.
“I think that’s a really unique experience, and we’re really lucky to have that. It’s so accessible — we get to just show up and enjoy this. I see so many of my formers students coming back to these. This is something people are really interested in. They go to one, they love it, they come back. It’s a great program we have,” said Cuthbert. “It’s not just that these poets are in an ivory tower on a hill somewhere writing their poems and scattering them in the air to the masses, it’s that they are real people.”
One of Brown’s main messages that he intends on communicating to the world is one of acceptance for every type of person.
“It’s really easy to be kind to someone and to accept someone who is like you,” said Brown, “but the work comes in when you are willing to accept people that are different than you.”