The Borah Theater held an eager audience Wednesday evening as they waited for award-winning poet Allison Joseph to recite her poems. The event was part of the University of Idaho”s Distinguished Visiting Writer series.
Joseph is a professor and director of the MFA Creative Writing Program at Southern Illinois University. She is the author of six poetry collections and has spread her work across the country.
Joseph said she finds her inspiration through feelings and occurrences with her late father, tragic incidents and a variety of other topics. She has even found inspiration in her kitchen floor, about which she published a poem.
“The constant source of joy for me in my life has been the ability to use poetry to express whatever it is I need or want to express,” Joseph said.
She said sometimes she writes a poem immediately after witnessing or partaking in an event, while other times she takes years to decide to write a piece.
“Sometimes I react right away,” Joseph said. “Sometimes it takes me years to put certain things together.”
Joseph gave a personal example that took decades to develop.
As a child, Joseph said she would see Santa as a black man during Christmas time.
Later in her life, after getting married, Joseph visited a mall in Indianapolis, Indiana, in which parents were apparently upset over the fact they had hired a black Santa. She said the situation made her uncomfortable and upset enough to want to go write about it.
“Two things collided. The memory of having my own black Santa, and the refusal of some people, somewhere, to acknowledge that Santa could be anything or anyone,” Joseph said. “That”s when I wrote the poem.”
One of her poems, “Voice,” describes how she and everyone else has a voice.
“When you hear my voice, you don”t have to know anything about me to know I love the motion of words in the air,” Joseph said.
One of her inspirations, her father, is depicted in her poem “The Payoff,” which alludes to his thrill of playing the lottery.
“Instant riches, lucky numbers – my father knew a life of trying to accrue the kind of luck he couldn”t afford,” Joseph said. “His fever rose as jackpots grew.”
Joseph said she likes to write something every day, simply so she can say she wrote that day. She mentioned she may salvage a line from one of those poems and use it in a future poem to be published.
“I do get this thrill from having written,” Joseph said. “I don”t always like doing the writing, but I like having done the writing.”
During the event, Joseph brought the audience to an amused laugh by comparing the feeling to her being a runner.
“Its like in the middle of the run, I”m like “I hate this, I hate this” then I stop, see how far I”ve gone, and then I”m like “Yes, I”m a badass,”” Joseph said.
She compared that progress to her poetry yet again.
“(The miles ran) add up, they accrue, just like the poems,” Joseph said.
Mike Andrews, a student in the MFA program, was at the reading with his wife, Meg. They both said they enjoyed Joseph”s work and the event.
“I find her poetry is very accessible, which is refreshing to me,” Meg said.
Mike said it the poetry seems relevant and easy to relate to.
Canese Jarboe, a student in the MFA Creative Writing Program, introduced Joseph during the event, offering some insight into her talents.
“Allison Joseph is not only a good poet, she is a gifted teacher,” Jarboe said. “Her spirit is infectious and I believe being exposed to her poetry and electricity is one reason why I realized I want to be a part of this community.”
Mike said he believes the Distinguished Visiting Writers series has had a great impact on the MFA program, and that success was continued with Joseph”s appearance.
“I think its very encouraging and it also gives us exposure to ideas outside of the school,” Mike said. “The fact that you get to bring fresh blood in and hear stories that you normally wouldn”t hear – it really raises our level of enthusiasm.”
Diamond Koloski can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @diamond_uidaho