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Today, Aimee Nezhukumatathil arrived at VSC. The first Visiting Writer I had the privilege of interacting with, such an important voice. On the day she flew and settled in, she also gave a seamless reading of work that seemed to bridge all three of her books. The bookstore ran out of her lastest book, Lucky Fish, but I have ordered one that will hopefully arrive before she goes. I am hoping to unpack my book boxes this weekend and find my well thumbed copy of At the Drive-In Volcano.
The writers (me included) are so lucky to have her here.
Tomorrow, she'll give a craft talk in VSC's library in Mason house. Each talk is different. Some writers do a question and answer, some have handouts, others read something prepared just for the group. Then she will set up a schedule to spend one-on-one time with each poet who submitted a manuscript for review.
This is my job now. Not just setting up the space for her reading, learning to deal with a digital recorder to create a sound cloud file, and put it on tumblr, picking her up from the airport, and eating meals together, but attending the reading and craft talk. And then she will read my work, and give me feedback. A measure, an intrepretation.
It does seem a little unreal. Fortunate and grateful, lucky.
read·ing/
ˈrēdiNG/
noun
1. the action or skill of reading written or printed matter silently or aloud. "suggestions for further reading" (perusal, study, scanning, browse, look, glance, leaf, skim)
written or printed matter that can be read.
knowledge of literature (book learning, scholarship, education, erudition)
an occasion at which poetry or other pieces of literature are read aloud to an audience.
a piece of literature or passage of scripture read aloud to a group of people.
2. an interpretation. "my reading of the situation" (construal, understanding, explanation, analysis)
3. a figure or amount shown by a meter or other measuring instrument; indication; record; measurement
4. a stage of debate in a parliament through which a bill must pass before it can become law.
verb
1. look at and comprehend the meaning of (written or printed matter) by mentally interpreting the characters or symbols of which it is composed. (decipher, make out, make sense of, interpret, understand)
speak (the written or printed matter that one is reading) aloud, typically to another person; recite
have the ability to look at and comprehend the meaning of written or printed matter.
habitually read (a particular newspaper or journal).
discover (information) by reading it in a written or printed source.discern (a fact, emotion, or quality) in someone's eyes or expression.
understand or interpret the nature or significance of; see
(of a piece of writing) convey a specified impression to the reader.
(of a passage, text, or sign) contain or consist of specified words; have a certain wording.
used to indicate that a particular word in a text or passage is incorrect and that another should be substituted for it.
(of an actor) audition for (a part in a play or film).
(of a device) obtain data from (light or other input).
2. inspect and record the figure indicated on (a measuring instrument).
indicate a specified measurement or figure (register, record, display, show)
3. BRITISH study (an academic subject) at a university. "I'm reading English at Cambridge"
4. (of a computer) copy, transfer, or interpret (data).
enter or extract (data) in an electronic storage device.
5. hear and understand the words of. “Do you read me? Over.”
Origin
Old English rǣdan, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch raden and German raten ‘advise, guess.’ Early senses included ‘advise’ and ‘interpret (a riddle or dream)’ (see rede).
