Blas Falconer and April Wilder Reading

This past Wednesday at San Diego State University, The Hugh C. Hyde Living Writers Series welcomed writers, April Wilder and Blas Falconer. The Living Writers Series is strictly devoted to showcasing the extraordinary writers of today. Both students enrolled in the class and other literature lovers in the community have the opportunity to watch poets and novelists read from their work and engage with their readers. For the final installment, Wilder and Blas (both current MFA visiting writers at State) read from This Is Not an Accident and Forgive the Body This Failure, respectively. The reading began with Blas Falconer. Falconer earned his MFA from the University of Maryland and a PhD in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Houston. Falconer read from his second collection of poems published this past September.

Poetry is an auditory experience just as much as it is a textual one. Live readings are always unique because the viewer gets to hear the tone of the poem directly from its writer. Falconer read a selection from his new collection with the greatest of ease. He read them in the same, slow and controlled tone even though the poems were of different subjects. Because of this, all of the poems meshed well. Often, poets write in many voices, but I liked that Falconer’s remained constant. Falconer mentioned that his shortest poem of the collection, “Heaven” was in fact the most difficult to write. It reminded me of the famous remark attributed  to Mark Twain, “If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.” There was another instance during his reading that he mentioned he did not want to read a particular poem. Luckily for myself, and the audience, he did read it. I make a note of these two because it reminded me of the point of poetry. A poem has to be carefully constructed and each word has to be right. Poetry is about placing ourselves out of our comfort zones and being honest with those around us, whether we know them or not. I have to thank Falconer for that reminder. 

After Blas Falconer, it was time for April Wilder to read. Wilder received her MFA in Fiction from the University of Montana and a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Utah. Wilder read from her collection of short stories This Is Not An Accident. Wilder’s reading was the complete opposite of Falconer. Wilder read rather fast, but I believe that was due to time. However, her reading was brilliant. Wilder has a natural voice and rhythm made for comedy that seems to be so effortless. Her charming story about the woes of a power couple had the room laughing. What struck me about Wilder was the way that her style of writing presents itself. It’s almost as if she wrote it on the spot, a giant stream of consciousness that wasn’t all over the place.

What I loved about this event was the diversity of the two poets. It is amazing to see the range of voices that a writer can create. When we read, we often get stuck in our head. Going to readings lets us break away from ourselves and the creators themselves give their work a new meaning for their audience. Going to this even only encourages me to attend more. You are always guaranteed an enjoyable and inspiring time. It’s events like these that I am thankful for groups and organization like Living Writing Series. If your community or local school, university offers any type of reading, go to them! You might learn something!