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Getting Nature Write
A decade has passed since poet Stephen Dunn first stepped foot in Austin to give a reading of his work at the University of Texas. In the years following, Dunn continued to distinguish himself both in print and as the recipient of a number of prizes and fellowships. So it goes without saying that St. Edward's University, which has enjoyed a creative growth spurt of its own in recent years, is fortunate to have landed someone of Dunn's caliber as the spring guest artist in the School of Humanities Visiting Writing Series. Dunn will read February 3 from various collections of published poems and from new material. Alan Altimont, professor of English at St. Edward's, calls Dunn "one of America's finest contemporary poets." What sets Dunn apart from many others in the poetry mill is his keen ability to draw on his natural surroundings to explain the human condition. Examples of this mode of expression can be found in the poetry of Robert Frost, who Dunn counts among his early influences, along with Theodore Roethke and Wallace Stevens. Despite nature's prominence in Dunn's work, he will be the first to tell you of his shortcomings as a nature writer per se. "I'm not one of those people who really pays sufficient attention to even know the names of things," Dunn offered over the phone from New Jersey, where he teaches creative writing at Richard Stockton College. "I'm much more interested in human drama as it might play itself out in nature. I'm always happy," he added with a laugh, "when I can get nature right." Lucky for Dunn, he got nature right in "Loosestrife," the title poem of his most recent book. As it happens, Dunn was so enamored with the resonance of the word that it wasn't until he wrote the poem that he learned that loosestrife, particularly purple loosestrife, is a plant that is at once strikingly beautiful and insidiously dangerous. --Amy Smith
(Stephen Dunn reads on Wednesday, February 3 at 8pm in the Maloney Room in the Main Building at St. Edward's. The reading is free and open to the public.)