A Pulitzer Prize a job at Princetion and a Pepperdine audience was all in C.K. Williams’ hands as he spoke on campus on Friday March 20. The Kresge Reading Room in Payson Library was abuzz with anticipation for the professor’s arrival as he prepared to share his work with the crowd. The poet from New Jersey who began writing poetry at the age of 19 is the author of 10 books of poetry and was the recipient of both the Guggenheim Fellowship and the National Book Award.
The diverse audience was comprised of members of the Malibu community faculty and students from Pepperdine University and even the poet’s own family.
“I’m delighted that there are people here from the community said Dr. Maire Mullins, chair of the Humanities Division, at the event she helped to orchestrate. It’s wonderful; even [Williams’] brother is here.”
When Williams finally addressed his audience it was easy to observe a sense of collective inspiration. The audience applauded and then fell silent as they eagerly awaited the voice of a man whose words have won him widespread recognition. The poet casually leaned over the microphone looking very friendly and relaxed.
“I wish every girl in the world could have a poem I wrote for them Williams said.
Then he read the first line of his poem titled Yours.” Many of the audience members said hearing the physical voice of the writer was the most memorable part of the afternoon.
“I like the voice of the poet said junior Sam Behymer. I don’t mean the way he writes but his actual voice. People like that you don’t get to hear their voice when you read [their writing] so it’s really cool to hear their actual voice. He has a gravely very poetic voice. It makes everything mean something else.”
Over the course of an hour Williams shared 14 poems each varying in subject matter but remaining true to his poetic style. His perfected stylistic trait is the long poetic line which lends a conversational sound to his work.
“I could tell that he was very much influenced by Walt Whitman in terms of the subject matter the style and the form of poetry Mullins said.
The poems ranged in topic from failed and forbidden romantic impulses to dogs and librarians with bowel movement issues. The audience was not afraid to laugh with Williams during such comic moments or to show awe and sympathy during the more serious ones.
Williams usually paused between poems to explain each one’s relation to his own life. This level of personal openness added a unique dimension to the reading.
I liked how he connected [the poems] to his childhood memories said Pepperdine senior Colby Long of Williams’ poem, Black Stone.” Williams explained that this poem grew out of the experience he had as a child of watching a magician saw a woman in half at a magic show and had a profound impact on his understanding of a woman’s place in society. “[Williams] applied a simple [magic] act to how society views women Long recalled.
When explaining to his fans that he would be sharing some new poetry with them, Williams expressed happiness at the number of students in the audience.
I’m going to read some new poems for those young people in the audience who may never have heard a poem read out loud he said with a smile.
As he read, the words of his poems were hypnotizing. This effect was felt by many of the audience members.
I think he had a real fluidity with his voice Long said. It went along with his lyrical sound.”
At the end of the last poem Williams gratefully thanked his attentive listeners and left the podium to the sound of applause.
As most of the audience made its way to the book-signing table the chatter was full of praise for the poet. Both long-time admirers of Williams’ work and those who heard his poems for the first time that day left the reading with a new appreciation for the contemporary poet and his genre.