Authors to read their work for students

By Jackie Reitzes

For the Daily

Throughout the semester, members of the University community will have the chance to catch a glimpse in the life of numerous established authors as the department of English and the Office of the Provost bring the Visiting Writers Series to campus.

Following the first installment of the series last month - a reading by J.D. Dolan from his memoir, "Phoenix, A Brother's Life," - poet Peter Davidson will host the second reading tonight at 5 p.m.

Having published 10 books and won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award in 1963, Davidson will be reading from his latest book of poetry "Breathing Room."

Reading on Thursday is English Prof. Richard Tillinghast, who teaches, English 313 on Beat Generation works, offered this semester, and English 317 on Irish literature. He will be reading from his most recently published collection of poems, "Six Mile Mountain," Tillinghast's sixth book of poetry.

Originally from Tennessee, Tillinghast was heavily influenced by Southern voices such as William Faulkner, Robert Penn Warren and John Crowe Ransom. Growing up in the South and later attending Harvard for graduate school gave Tillinghast a fresh perspective on both personal identity and common perceptions of the region.

"I tend to be interested in the history of the place where I grew up. I still

think of the Southerner as a rebel. When you grow up in the South, there's a sense, even today, that American history and culture kind of passed the South by, so that I still at times feel like an outside observer of American culture."

Observations of Southern culture also helped to shape Tillinghast's identity as a poet, as "Father in October," one of the poems in "Six Mile Mountain, poignantly reflects. The son of a New England father and a Tennessee mother, the narrator of "Father in October" acutely observes, "To marry my mother, my father found/In 1932, was to husband her house."

A frequent voyager to Ireland, both "Six Mile Mountain" and the course on Irish Literature reflect Tillinghast's deep connection with the Irish way of life.

"My family and I lived in a small fishing village in Ireland for a year about ten years ago, and we continue to spend part of each summer there. It is a way of life I really relate to and which has had a strong impact on me. Part of it is the leisure time every summer. I always write a few poems there every year," he said.

Tillinghast is working on another collection of poems, also heavily inspired by visits to Ireland.

"I've written about eight poems for a new collection. There is a city in Ireland I go to, Galway, a place I have always responded to really strongly. It is a Medieval city in essence. Columbus stopped over there on his way to discovering the New World; it is that old. This summer I found myself writing a poem about Galway. To me that's one of the exciting things about writing - you surprise yourself with what you come up with."

The series runs until April, culminating with the presentation of the Hopwood Awards. Novelist Elizabeth McCracken is scheduled to read Thursday, Oct. 19, from her forthcoming working "Niagara Falls All Over Again." Poet Lisel Mueller reads from her body of seven poetry books, including her most recent "Alive and Together: New and Selected Poems," which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1997.