A chance to not only read great writing, but to have it read to you by
the author is a great privilege. Many say that hearing the author read his/her
own work often reveals something that had previously been hidden within the
bowels of the text. On the 30th of May I had the opportunity to experience one
such reading. Held in the library of the Anglo-American University and hosted
by Stephan Delbos, the reading was comprised of; Diane Simmons, with her
‘Starry Night‘ short story, and a plethora of Burt Kimmelman’s poems, picked
out at random, though with a certain bird feeder theme slowly emerging as the
night slithered on. Accompanying these fine writers were Magdalena Císlerová
and Jan Zikmund who acted as their translators.
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| photo credits: Anna Hupcejova |
The evening started off with some light conversation and mingling around
a buffet table laden with snacks and wine. Once everybody had arrived, we were
ushered into the next room by Mr. Delbos, who proceeded to introduce our first
speaker, Diane Simmons and Magda Císlerová. Her story followed a young woman
who had arrived at an unmarked bar, only those ‘in the know’ were aware of.
Waiting for her friend, she seats herself in one of the booths and becomes a
fly on the wall, listening to the woes of a nearby table, where a woman is
slowly spilling her guts about her new fling, the never revealed high ranking
politician. Once Kim, her friend, arrives the narrative switches focus to Kim’s
life story and how she had finally persuaded her lover to leave his wife.
Having mixed whiskey and expensive champagne together, the protagonist becomes
rather intoxicated and after taking a short bathroom break returns to see her
friend has left her alone once more. The story was laced with dark humour and
sharp jabs at the, at times ridiculous, New York lifestyle. Simmons’ story was
punctuated by her translator, and while she did not put as much emotion into
her words as the writer did, she did a fine job interpreting the author’s
words.
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| photo credits: Anna Hupcejova |
We then took a short break, with several of the viewers going over to
personally thank Ms. Simmons for her thoroughly enjoyable reading. During the
break, everyone filled their cups with their personal choice of poison and
debated to what degree they liked the story. Following that, we were treated to
several of Burt Kimmelman’s poems, most of which were taken from one of his
most recent collections Gradually The
World. His poems ranged from things he discovered during his travels, to
birds and their everyday lives, to poems of loss and finally to the paintings
of Monet. While at times short, each set
of verses had an emotional punch to them and often left the audience mesmerized
and contemplating their words. Assisting him was Jan Zikmund who helped
translate two of his poems and offer an interesting insight and academic view
of the poets work.
As
the evening slowly wound down, everybody left the library and spread out into
the city with the words of the two authors now wriggling inside our brains,
trying to find a place they could call home.
Andrew J. Buring
