Photo by Aleksandra P.
DON’T: Read too much under that limit either. I had someone complain I didn’t read long enough. Her point being that she’d driven a half an hour for the reading and wanted it to be worth her time. That’s kind of a conundrum—don’t read too long but read long enough. It ultimately comes down to how you respect the audience’s time. Value their time by not running over, but respect the fact that they came out to hear poetry.
DO: Ask questions before you arrive. It may be important to know certain things such as whether or not the venue has a microphone, the expected audience size, and whether or not to bring books. This April, I’d arranged to read at a bookstore with two other poets for National Poetry Month. I spoke with reading coordinator ahead of time to confirm the time and day, but failed to ask if all the books had come in. A poet’s books had not come in, and the reading coordinator didn’t offer that information. She also wasn’t there the day of the reading—and neither was anyone else. There were about six chairs set out for the reading, which means that if they expected people, they certainly didn’t expect a lot of people. The other poets and I read to each other anyway, and it turned out to be a really fun day, but of course we didn’t want to spend money on gas and half a day’s worth of travel to read to each other. Someone suggested that in the future, when booking a reading at a venue like a bookstore, I should have researched the area, contacted colleges, poetry groups, and anyone else likely to attend such an event and do some of the promotional work on my own.
DON’T: Come to the reading unprepared. Know what you are going to read and have the pages in order or a set list written down. If you’re nervous, write down a few things you’d like to say between poems ahead of time. It helps to feel prepared and also helps you keep from potentially saying things you may regret later. Hopefully the venue will provide water, but I usually bring some just in case. Part of preparation is also knowing yourself. If you’re nervous, is there something that helps ease your nerves? Recently I took two Benadryl before a reading. I’d only meant to make my mosquito bites stop itching so I wouldn’t be scratching my legs while I read. Of course the Benadryl helped with the itching, but it also made it hard to focus.
DO: Express gratitude. It’s always nice to thank the venue and your fellow reader(s), not to mention the audience. There are a thousand other things they could be doing, but everyone is there in that space because they love language. Poets bemoan the lack of interest in poetry all the time, but people show up to readings on all days of the week in hundreds of cities across the United States. It’s important to remember what it is that drew us to poetry in the first place and what keeps us returning—beauty, humor, honesty, and the sense that we are a little less alone in the world because we love something.
About Traci Brimhall
