The Outside Inside Reading

The University of Iowa’s Writer’s Workshop is a renowned program celebrated worldwide for its commitment and leadership in literature. Although, what may not be so well-known about the Workshop is the intimate readings held at the Mill in Iowa City every other Wednesday night called “Talk Art Cabaret.” These readings provide an opportunity for students of the Workshop to read from their work as well as for the community to hear the newest development and, as the students call it, “evolution” in poetry. However, while the dark and cozy atmosphere of the Mill may seem like a welcoming place for any reading, the event held by the Writer’s Workshop was much like being on the outside of a long running inside joke in which only the students of the Workshop knew the punch line.

The evening’s performance was initiated by an introductory video that lacked any real connection to the reading or actual art that was being presented. The writers’ introductions were perhaps equally as long as the students’ readings and it soon became clear that Wednesdays at the Mill are more of a histrionic display of art and the garnering of personal fame rather than the sharing of students’ work. What is generally taken very seriously in Iowa City was surprisingly not handled with the level of respect that is expected for Workshop students. Furthermore, for anyone not involved in the Workshop, the readings are much like observing conversations in which one cannot participate. Many of the comments outside of the actual reading were intended for people in the Workshop, and the evening functioned on a first-name basis that made outsiders not knowledgeable of the students in the Workshop rather frustrated.

Despite the lack of professional conduct at the Mill, audience members cannot dismiss the artistic qualities and conceptual interest in the poetry. This past Wednesday, February 25, Cody, a female poet in the Workshop read from her current manuscript. If audience members are willing to look past the theatrics at the Mill, they might find that it is worth listening to the students’ work. Reading in a quick paced manner, Cody described her poetry as “a rush of words” and focused on themes such as nature, “there is no wilderness in the sky,” identity, “I, you, who, it she collapses into limits,” and deception, “hide as in the hidden skin” that resulted in writing that was introduced as “philosophically plain” but ultimately sophisticated in terms of style, taking the simple and turning it into the abstract, eliminating excessive embellishment for visual images. Lines with particular conceptual interest also include “I erode a network of noise,” “if we leak out into the pale sky it could kills us,” and “translating sheets of sun to a guy cemented in the sky.” For the oration of one poem, Cody even embodied a speech impediment that stuttered the reading of her words –something received only by listening and not reading.

While Wednesday night readings at the Mill may not be taken as seriously as some audience members might hope for, the artistic credibility and quality is still entertaining and “Talk Art Cabaret” is in the end, worth finding time to attend.


Kathryn Duffy