Kinnell Reads Favorite Poetry

About 70 literature fans crowded into Adams House upper common room last night to hear Pulitzer prize-winning poet Galway Kinnell recite some of his favorite poetry.

Kinnell's 20-minute reading was part of Writers' Harvest, a two-month long national literary benefit to fight hunger.

Save Our Strength, an international hunger relief organization, collected donations at the event.

Proceeds are expected to go to support the work of the Boston Food Bank.

"Perhaps in some small way we are trying to save our souls in doing this," Kinnell said in his introductory remarks. "It's good for us to stop and pay attention tonight."

Kinnell, author of Imperfect Thirst, read poems including Keats' "Ode To Autumn" and "The Owl" by Edward Thomas.

Kinnell's own "Oatmeal" evoked laughter.

But after he read his poem "Parkinson's Disease," the audience fell silent.

"I couldn't have a more attentive and knowledgeable audience," Kinnell said. "It was a great pleasure for me to read to this group."

Kinnell's reading was preceded by selections of recent work from several Harvard writing faculty members.

Readers included Briggs-Copeland Assistant Professor of English and American Literature and Language Verlyn Klinkenborg and Briggs-Copeland Lecturers on English and American Literature and Language Robert Cohen, Henri Cole, and Jill C. McCorkle.

"It was nice to get a chance to see your teachers read," said Howard S. Axelrod '95. "This is the kind of thing that should go on more often in college. You get more out of this than just sitting down and reading poetry in your room."

Others praised both the readers and the cause.

"It was a great atmosphere," said Jamie N. Miller '95. "It made you remember that people who write don't write just for themselves."

The Writers' Harvest project will sponsor 150 such readings in November and December, soliciting the help of over 1000 writers and 20,000 audience members nationwide.

No further events in the series are presently scheduled to take place at Harvard.