The Writing Seminars Department here at Hopkins has a reputation of not only producing great writers, but also of bringing notable, thought-provoking authors to campus.
One such writer, Stephen Dobyns, visited Hopkins on Tuesday to share his writing as part of this semester's Reading Series.
Department Chair Dave Smith introduced Dobyns as the distinguished author of novels, short story collections and literary criticisms, but added that, for this appearance, Dobyns would read poems he had written over a number of years. Some of the poems Dobyns chose to read were published decades ago, while some will be featured in his next book, to be released in 2010.
Dobyns, a New Jersey native who now resides in Boston, Mass., is the author of 20 novels and 14 poetry collections. His book of poetry Black Dog, Red Dog (1984) won a title in the National Poetry Series and his awards include fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation.
Since graduating from Wayne State University and receiving a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa, Dobyns has taught at Sarah Lawrence College, the University of Iowa, Syracuse University and Boston University.
Even more impressive than his résumé were the 16 poems he read on Tuesday evening, to which prose description cannot do justice.
Dobyns began with "Tomatoes" from Cemetery Nights (1987); it is about a man trying unsuccessfully to identify his dead mother among 10 other women in a morgue. He presses their hands and even climbs into their laps in order to pick her out, but his mother had gotten plastic surgery, so he does not recognize her.
The man decides to take all 10 bodies home, cremate them, put their ashes in a silver garbage can and then use their ashes to fertilize a tomato garden. With "Tomatoes," Dobyns tells an improbable story to uncover a man's unconscious emotions he would never share with others.
Similarly, "How to Like It," a conversation between a man and a dog, perfectly blends the fantasy world of the poem with the reality of life's trials in the line asking, "How is it possible to want so many things and still want nothing?"
The images Dobyns creates are truly tragic, such as in "Careers," where, in a room full of dying nuns, these childless women cling to rag dolls with rubbed-off features, or in "The Body's Weight," where the body's greatest burden is itself until it returns to the earth and finally feels weightless before entering infinite darkness.
His poems often feature a tinge of humor mixed with tragedy. "Topless" first depicts the narrator's fascination with naked strippers, but then he observes the club's patrons with wonder. He likens the spectators to wind-up toys that the girls have to set right when they run into a corner. One of the most memorable scenes is that of a stripper straddling a man and waving her breasts in his face as she inquires about his family.
Dobyns also delves into the psyche of a boy coming of age, focusing on specific moments of maturation. In "Alligator Dark," a mother calls to her son through the bathroom door as the boy pees on a cigarette before flushing it down the toilet. In "Wisdom," another adolescent boy shuts himself in a closet to avoid the transition from "innocence to consequence." He, not his parents, represent rational thinking and foresight.
The penultimate poem of the evening, "Mourning Doves," reads like an urgent stream of consciousness and is an interesting departure from his more narrative poetry.
"Mourning Doves" serves as a commentary on the political right wing's refusal to acknowledge global warming and on fools who find images of Jesus or Mother Teresa in their pretzels, sandwiches, cinnamon rolls and terriers' butts. The narrator also criticizes the right wing for "dumbing down" the population and cutting funding for the arts when the arts extend the sense of hope and possibility.
In his poetry, Dobyns deftly explores the implausible and the credible, the ridiculous and the relatable. The characters, themes, situations and emotions in his works manage to be simultaneously delightful and terrifying.
The next Writing Seminars-sponsored reading will be on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in Krieger 205 and will feature novelist Donald Ray Pollock.
