Poetry of Place Finds Place in Albany

"Language informs place, and place informs language," said poet Susan Kolodny, in between poems, at Tuesday evening's opening of the 2010-11 season of Poetry at the Albany Library.

Her comment could well have been a motto for the reading, and for the book it celebrated: The Place That Inhabits Us: Poems of the San Francisco Bay Area Watershed, an anthology published this year by Sixteen Rivers Press.

The anthology, with a foreward by Robert Hass, contains 100 poems by 100 poets, and five of those poets were featured readers: Kolodny, Alice Jones, Priscilla Lee, Eliot Schain and Richard Silberg.

Many in the audience were regulars who were eagerly returning to the monthly event after its summer hiatus. Others were first-timers to the series, which is always held the second Tuesday of the month in the library's Edith Stone Room.

The host and organizing force behind the readings, Catherine Taylor, welcomed the group and introduced the anthology and its editor, Murray Silverstein of Sixteen Rivers Press, named for the rivers of the San Francisco Bay Area watershed. Silverstein spoke about the process of putting the book together.

Silverstein has written that "Watershed" refers to both physical geography and, metaphorically, "a confluence of voices, language, feeling, tradition--an ecology of sorts--that, like a river, enriches the life  of a place."

As Taylor had noted, this theme was timely, as autumn marks the annual Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival, a free event Oct. 2 at Civic Center Park in Berkeley.

It is unusual for poetry nights to have multiple featured readers, and it added an element of velocity to the evening: Alice Jones seemed to come and go in the blink of an eye.

Susan Kolodny's poem, "Koi Pond, Oakland Museum," offered captivating imagery of fish and shadows, and Eliot Schain, a high school teacher, read "Boddhisattva West" in a booming voice as a group of students cheered him on from the back row.

Priscilla Lee's reading was spiked with wry humor both in her poems and in her comments, and got the audience giggly, as did the final reader, Richard Silberg, whose closing piece described the poet's realization that a sad man walking a silly dog actually shared more with him than he would have liked. 

As usual, there was a break for cookies and brownies before the open mic began, and a chance to hear some audience response. The open mic event follows readings each month.

Albany resident Cherise Wyneken, 81, a longtime regular at the reading series, described how she loves the diversity of poets, which reflects the diversity of Albany itself. Wyneken is the author of two volumes of poetry and two chapbooks, some of which were available for sale in the back of the room Tuesday.

Alhambra High School students Frank Wallace and Ryan Justice, 17, of Martinez, came to the reading to hear their former teacher, Schain, but also had a personal interest: they are both creative writers themselves. Both said they felt that, even though it was a trek, the Albany reading was something they would come to again.

The Albany Library was named "Best Place to Read and Hear Good Poetry" in the East Bay Express this year, and Tuesday's reading was a testament to why: Everyone from established writers to simply the poetry-curious always find a friendly environment filled with talent.

The open mic that followed the reading sported a stellar selection of poets, many of them published, including Brenda Hillman, who read a poem written by her husband Robert Hass. But Alhambra High students Anthony Kirwald, Sydney Wirthman, and Frank Wallace stole the show, getting a huge response with poems about confronting racism, fighting with parents and discovering unexpected love.

Curious about poetry in Albany? Read about Albany's poet laureate here, and learn more about a long-time poetry workshop that ended over the summer.