Newspaper Article

Live poetry will be a highlight at Alameda Library

2004

Overview

NOTHING TOPS the energy and connection of a live performance. The same holds for live poetry readings, says Patti Itano of the Alameda Free Library. \"A poetry reading is much like the experience of attending a concert or a play,\" says Itano. \"The experience is unmediated by TV, radio, Internet or cell phones. You're pushing that stuff away and getting to the essential experience, author-to- listener. You slow down and give it your full attention.\" Poetry newcomers and veterans can hear, see and feel the energy themselves at a poetry reading Feb. 5, 7 p.m., at the Interim Main Library, 2200-A Central Ave. The featured poets, Forrest Hamer and Tricia Caspers, offer an interesting contrast, says Itano. Hamer has many published works while Caspers is seen as the up-and-coming poet. Their styles also differ. \"Tricia has a somewhat edgier feeling in her poetry. But there's a great personal feeling you get with Forrest from his refined ability to get in touch with individual moments, both present and past, and turn them into a poem,\" says Itano.

• Publisher: Bay Area News Group
• Subject: Caspers, Tricia / Hamer, Forrest (1956- ) / Itano, Patti