Eagle Pond Authors’ Series: Liz Ahl

The Eagle Pond Authors’ Series is a free, annual series at PSU’s Silver Center for the Arts that pay tribute to local poet and author Donald Hall. As per tradition, Hall has the final word on who is invited to read.

“I feel especially honored to have been given the thumbs up by Donald Hall,” Ahl said.

At PSU, Ahl teaches Poetry Workshop, Creative Writing, and other classes. She is the author of a number of chapbooks, including “A Thirst That’s Partly Mine”, “Talking About the Weather”, and “Luck”. Her newest chapbook, “Home Economics”, was published this summer by Seven Kitchens Press. “It’s basically a one man operation,” said Ahl. “He handsews all the books himself.” “Home Economics” will have a first printing of 100 copies.

A poetry reading is a different experience than reading a poem on paper. “There’s an intimacy to the human voice in the ear that is a different kind of intimacy than words on a page, which are, of course, also intimate,” Ahl said.

“I think there’s a sense of connection that, to me, is similar to seeing music performed live,” she said. “There’s something about the energy of a live performance. There’s something ephemeral about it.”

The element of audience also plays a role. The Silver Center’s Smith Recital Hall provides an intimate space of 174 seats. “It’s public. You’re sitting by other people, you’re sharing an experience, as opposed to just having an individual experience,” Ahl said. “I’m not saying one is better than the other at all, I just think that that’s a huge difference.”

After Thursday’s reading, Ahl said she hopes the audience will take away a sense of connection and recognition. “In a nice space like the Smith Recital Hall, you can sort of feel it. When you’ve been read a good line, everyone kind of takes a little breath.”

She also hopes people will discover something new or surprising. “That’s also part of why we go to literature and art,” she said. “It’s not just about seeing ourselves reflected back to us, because if that’s all we ever did, how boring that would be.”

Ahl said that one of her challenges, as a poet, is communicating solely through words on a page. “I mostly don’t get to read everybody my poems,” she said. “If my poems are always better because I’m a good reader, because I’m a ham, because I’m a good performer, that actually would worry me as a writer. It would make me worry that the drama of my performance was making up for some kind of deficit on the page.”

“I aspire to write work that sings as much on the page as it does coming out of my mouth. I’m sure I mostly don't succeed. And that is my ongoing work. I haven’t mastered poetry yet, I probably never will. Just the notion of mastering poetry seems really weird.”

For aspiring poets, Ahl’s advice is to “read, read, read.”

“I think you should read more than you write,” she said. “Way more. That’s how you learn the potentials of language.”

Liz Ahl’s reading is on Thursday, Sep. 15 at 7 p.m., in the Smith Recital Hall at Plymouth State’s Silver Center for the Arts. A book signing and reception will follow the reading. The Eagle Pond Authors’ Series is free and open to the public. Tickets are available in advance at 603-535-2787.