Last week at the English Reading Series we had the privilege of hearing from Robert Pinsky. Not only did Pinsky serve as poet laureate, he also turns out to be a marvelous reader. I’ll be the first to admit that my eyes tend to glaze over a bit when I hear poetry read aloud (sorry, no tar and feathers, please), but Pinsky had an entertaining and almost magical way of reading. He read a bit out of his translation of Dante’s Inferno (which I didn’t know about but seriously, it was so much better than the other translations I’ve read–no offense to other translators), and then he took requests for individual poems. He also answered several audience questions, such as “What advice would you give an aspiring writer?” His answer–take note, you aspiring writers out there–was to “Make your own anthology of works you love.”

This week’s reading (Friday at noon in the library auditorium) will be from Wade Bentley, one of Utah’s own poets. Don’t miss it!

Did you attend Robert Pinsky’s reading? What did you think?