The Daily Campus

Issue date: 4/2/09 Section: Focus

Media Credit: Carolyn Wilke Poet Heather McHugh speaks at the Dodd Center on Thursday evening. McHugh, who has published seven collections of poetry, was invited to UConn for the Wallace Stevens Poetry Program.

Introduced by English Professor-in-Residence Sharon Bryan as "electrifying," award-winning poet Heather McHugh delighted the crowd with her eccentric anecdotes and charming wit last at night at the 46th Annual Wallace Stevens Poetry Program.

The program began in 1964 to honor the vice president of The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. and poet Wallace Stevens. The program encourages members of the community to experience poetry by producing their own or coming to the two poetry readings offered each spring - one in Hartford, the other at UConn. McHugh, who has seven collections of poetry under her belt, said it was an honor to be a part of "such a lineage, and such a company."

She began her reading with a poem to "Wallace Stevens' enemies," where she mocked their ability to write. From there, McHugh made small talk with the audience - sometimes related to the poetry, sometimes not - but whittling away the gap between her and each individual audience member.

"She didn't take herself too seriously, which was refreshing because most poets usually taken themselves very seriously," said Tim Stobierski, a 4th-semester English and history double major. "She had a great rapport with the crowd."

She stressed the importance of the senses, and how we use and abuse them in a poem titled "Glass House‚" as well as her fascination with human gestures in Sept. 11, 2001-related poems "Man in the Street," and "From the Tower."

Most of her poems had a blatant satirical side to them; in her poem titled "No Sex for Priests‚" McHugh pokes fun at religion and the punishment priests assume because of it. Her poem titled "Philosopher Orders Crispy Pork" on the surface about love for animals (if in a strange, carnivorous way) gave way to many chuckles.

"Secretly, that's a critique of post-modernism," she grinned.

"I didn't know she was going to be that funny," said Samantha Buzzelli, a 6th-semester English major. "I enjoyed it."

Prior to McHugh were the three winners of the Wallace Stevens Poetry Prize, in addition to a high school student whose poem won through an Early College Experience program.

Sean Forbes, the 1st place winner, read a poem inspired by his grandparents and where they lived.

2nd place winner Lori Carriere read an old poem about the boy she had a crush on at Haagen-Dazs, and 3rd place winner read a poem about making a paper crane, which she dedicated to her grandmother.

"The winners were all very talented," said Buzzelli. "It was nice to see young, upcoming poets."

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