From the Podium to the Second Row
From the Podium to the Second Row
The Vanishing Feel of an Anne Sexton Reading
“From the Podium to the Second Row” argues that Sexton’s readings deserve to be remembered as performance, at least in this more-than-theatrical sense, and (assured of this caveat) Sexton herself would have argued the point. Poetry readings, in turn, were “a reliving of the experience, that is, they are happening all over again” (No Evil Star 108). So, if what’s “happening” in performance is what’s “happening” in the poem—and if it’s hard to tell the difference between these and what’s happening in real life—well, this, for Sexton, was a mark of her performative success.
Keywords: Performative success, Poetry Readings, Performance, Anne Sexton
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