Yale Bulletin and Calendar

February 23, 2001

Volume 29, Number 20

Valesio group is 'an ongoing poem'

It was largely to demonstrate that "you can be a serious scholar and still write poetry" that Paolo Valesio, chair of the Department of Italian Language and Literature, got an eclectic group of people together almost eight years ago "to share poetic writings."

Those 22 original members began meeting every other Thursday in the Calhoun College common room for two hours of poetry talk. Today, while only two of the original members remain, the group is still going strong.

The group's dozen or so members hail from both the Yale and New Haven communities. While Valesio originally hoped to attract mainly undergraduates, young students have comprised only a small number of the membership over the years. The other members represent a variety of professions and occupations. While the majority are graduate students and teachers of literature, there is also a doctor, a lawyer and a guard from the Yale University Art Gallery. It is a group bounded by a love of poetry rather than a special scholastic interest, notes Valesio.

Originally, the group met only during the academic year, since Valesio travels away from New Haven in the summer. However, Valesio notes with pleasure that the group, which now meets during the summer, "survives as kind of a family" even when he, the pater familias, is absent.

Typically, a meeting consists of one or two members reading their own poetry -- usually free verse -- and other members responding. But that format is by no means steadfast. "People can read their own writing or something someone else wrote, a friend or a famous poet," Valesio says.

Nor are members restricted to presenting poetry. Short stories -- which, Valesio says, have a close "kinship" to poetry -- are frequently submitted, as are prose poems.

If the discussion topics can vary, so too can the ways the members present their works. Valesio recalls one man who had little "cork people" he had made for a niece "recite" his poetry. When two women in the group, who hailed from Brazil, presented a poem that one had written in Portuguese and the other had translated, they acted it out in a song-and-dance routine.

The individuals who attend the meetings are not required to present works. In fact, those who only listen are welcome, says Valesio, noting that the writers derive a great deal from the audience members. "Listening I find very sustaining," he remarks, noting that poetry is a participatory activity. When one couple brought their baby to a meeting, Valesio noticed that the child's face and body moved in response to the cadences of the poetry, reminding him how much poetry is a "physical thing."

Because the discussion that takes place depends on the inspiration of the moment, meetings tend to proceed at the meditative pace of a Quaker meeting, notes Valesio. Most of what members write is concerned with everyday events from their lives. When talking about the poems themselves, therefore, members often learn about the life of the poet, says Valesio, noting, "Sometimes what the writer tells us about personal feelings surrounding the poem is more interesting than the poem itself."

Because of the personal nature of the writing, and the intimacy that evolves in the give-and-take of sharing it, the meetings have developed a bond between the members. In fact, one marriage has emerged from the group. A psychologist who joined the sessions several years ago, in observing the group's dynamics, concluded that it had succeeded in developing a new genre of "transactional poetry" and that the group itself, united by a common faith in the word, was like "an ongoing poem," recalls Valesio.

There are very few ground rules to the twice-monthly celebration of words. Those who attend have to sign into a notebook that Valesio has been keeping since the first meeting. And, if non-native English speakers write in their mother tongue, they must furnish English translations of their work. All are welcome to share the bottle of wine Valesio brings to each meeting.

The group welcomes guests. Anyone who is interested in attending can show up at 8 p.m. every other Thursday (the next meeting is March 22) at the Calhoun College common room, 189 Elm St. Bring your own poetry only if you feel like it.

-- By Dorie Baker

Dardo 6

Se Tu sei desiderio allora vedo
pache di faccia a questo io sono miope.

Dart 6

If you are desire then I see
Why face-to-face I am near-sighted.

-- From Paolo Valesio's "Dardi (Darts)," translated by Graziella Sidoli.

Other poetry stories in this issue

Bollingen Prize in Poetry honors 'anguish and humor' of Louise Glück's 'Vita Nova'

Graduate students give voice to their poetry in colloquium

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

New Berkeley College master named

Bollingen Prize in Poetry honors 'anguish and humor' of Louise Glück's 'Vita Nova'

Yale Glee Club salutes music's power to mold lifelong friendships

Architect Cesar Pelli to design Yale's new engineering building

Comedian Carlin shares tales from his 'very lucky' life

Yale College term bill is set at $34,030

Bentley Layton appointed to Goff chair in religious studies

Race is not a factor in the delivery of mental health services . . .

Graduate students give voice to their poetry in colloquium

Valesio group is 'an ongoing poem'

Candid close-ups are Yale police officer's hobby

Pioneering nurses will be honored at center's annual convocation

Grant to support field research by F&ES students

YUHS names new medical director

Pianist (and trained chemist) makes his faculty debut

Shakespeare-inspired music will be featured in concert by Yale Jazz Ensemble

Campus Notes