Eastern Michigan University students gathered at the Quirk-Sponberg Theater last Wednesday for readings by Laura Wetherington and Professors Jill Darling and Sara Williams on creative writing.
Together, they presented the Bathhouse Reading Series to the audience with an extensive variety of readings. Among the selections were Wetherington’s fast-paced work concerning a local crime and Williams’ readings of poems written by fifth-grade students.
The performance began with a collaboration between Darling and Wetherington, author and former professor of EMU, as the two writers took turns reading lines of their work.
“I am a cliché of my own latitude,” Wetherington said, rhythmically followed by a response from Darling.
Darling and Wetherington then performed solo routines of reading excerpts, which was followed by Williams speaking to the audience.
“I really enjoy [performing],” Williams said. “It feels really good. Adrenaline gets pumping and it feels cathartic. Also, it’s really nice to be listened to. I like seeing people trying to listen and me trying to express.”
During the evening, she recited pieces from an original poem:
“I learned to nourish the ground. I learned it would not always fail me and I would not always fail it.”
Wetherington explained the process of channeling inspiration from Emily Dickinson into a section of her work and afterward, Williams used a quote from Buddha to begin one of her pieces. Darling lit the audience up with topics ranging from love to environmental concerns.
While Wetherington’s description of a Northern Michigan murder sent out haunting vibes, the audience laughed out loud at her poem set out to prove there was “nothing funny about a penis.”
William’s ended the performance with a piece called “First Poem,” created when she was only three years old, written down by her mother.
“I thought [the event] went fabulous,” Williams said. “There were many different styles. There was lots of laughing from Laura. And Jill has this almost mathematical, irregular approach.”
“It was good,” said Tayler Grifka-Brown, an EMU student attending the performance. “I liked that they focused on different things.”
