Hejinian/Eberhardt Day in Kansas a Great Success (IMO, i.e.)

Many thanks to everyone who attended the reading and Eberhardt Lecture with Lyn Hejinian yesterday at Univ. of Kansas. The reading, especially, rocked my poetry world (and the Spencer Museum’s) with an SRO crowd of a good 200 or so people! Kudos esp. to all the students, grad and undergrad, who showed up. Innovative writing is alive and well at KU!

Poet Jim McCrary sent me an entertaining thumbnail “review” of the reading, which I’ll paste below. Also, check out the editorial on the topic of poetry (!) in yesterday’s Daily Kansan (student paper): http://www.kansan.com/stories/2008/mar/06/thornbrugh/

If you see any quotes attributed to me by the local media that sound even dumber than something I’d say, please do call it to my attention, and I’ll set you straight.

Thanks again for making the Eberhardt Memorial Lecture/Reading a great success!
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“I have been looking forward to Ms. Hejinian's reading since Joe first told me about it a month or so ago. Yesterday I left work early and went to Spencer. Walking in I saw a long line down a hallway out of the corner of my eye...but hey, must be something else going on. Then found out reading not where I thought but upstairs and the line I saw was waiting to get into gallery. So I stood in line in a stair well waiting...how is this possible I thought. Then door opened into packed gallery...standing room!! Who are these people and what are they doing here? Not supposed to be this way...not for a San Francisco Langpo writer . . . . What is it? . . . Whats going on? Is Lyn Hejinian the new Billy Collins or Maya Angelou? Is langpo so popular? Something is not right.

But the reading was right...all right and good. Thanks Lyn.”