By Jenna Merony
The Faculty Reading Series hit it off this year on October 6th with an inspiring, energetic, interactive reading by Professor Robert Fanning and Professor Jeffrey Bean. Faculty readings are usually split between one poet and one novelist but this Thursday reading was the second of only two times that Fanning and Bean were able to work together to bring the power of poetry to the audiences ears. This was also a special reading in that it was the 15th anniversary of Fanning and Bean working together. They were both hired on the faculty of the English Department 15 years ago and got to celebrate with friends, family, fellow faculty, and students on this special night.
“Looking out and seeing a bunch of students hearing us read is by far my favorite thing… seeing their faces and hearing their snaps.”
- Robert Fanning
What made this night so memorable was how the audience got to participate with introducing each writer. Since the two poets had only read together twice, they decided to introduce each other rather than having a student introduce them, which is usual protocol. Their introductions of each other were small bios followed by Beans favorite poem by Fanning and vice versa. The twist was, instead of Bean or Fanning reading it out to the audience, the audience also got to read aloud and take part in the introductions. I have never seen that done before but I think it was genius and very fun for the crowd.
Before the reading, I got to speak with both guest of honors and see what these readings mean to them and the preparation that goes into them. Fanning and Bean really blew me away when they had similar answers to the question of what their favorite part of these readings were. Both said the students. Fanning and Bean look forward to see their students out in the audience, hearing their work, and seeing their accomplishments. When asked about the plan that goes with preparing for these reading, both take things seriously and really prep rather than winging it the day of. Fanning finds himself creating a set list and reading through it several times before he feels it is right and ready to go. Bean found out what happens when one does not create a plan the hard way and ever since then has made sure to have a plan.
“I think I just really love the fact that students are here and that they are always sharing work with me but now it’s my chance to share my work with them.”
- Jeffrey Bean
Robert Fanning started off the reading with a few older pieces that segued into his poems that he had written on his sabbatical in Iceland last fall. All the titles of these poems were Icelandic, for instance, his fifth poem from this collection was called “jökull” which means glacier. These six poems were persona poems that were inspired from his time in Iceland and the things he saw. Fanning then ended the reading with two elegy poems written in honor of his mother. These poems were powerful and brought tears to the readers eyes from the beauty of their words and the emotions they shared.
The reading then fell into the hand of Jeffrey Bean who started off with sharing some of his older pieces as well, and then went into poems from his new chapbook, Ella’s Plan. Ella’s Plan was the winner of the 2022 Chapbook Contest, hosted by The Poets Corner and Maine Media, and selected by poet Naomi Shihab Nye who has been an inspiration to Bean since high school. Naomi Shihab Nye also hosted the reading and book launch for Ella’s Plan this summer over Zoom. This chapbook comes from the POV of Ella who stems from Bean as a child and his own daughters childhood. However, through writing these poem, Ella began to grow into her own person/persona. The first poem read from the chapbook was the poem on the first page called “It Is Friday Night” and it was a great opener into the book and what is to come. We also got to see the inner making of the book and the final product that came out of it.
Both poets shared great pieces and inspired their listeners through their words. Looking forward to more Thursday night readings led or read by our great English Faculty.
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