Anecdotes from the Residency I
During the dinner break on Day Three, I was asked to introduce David Wagoner during that night’s faculty readings. Having a lifelong habit of shyness I wanted to beg off, but I promised myself that I wouldn’t hold myself back in this program. I said yes. Of course, I had no idea what was involved in this kind of introduction and I knew nothing about this man who turns out to be one of the great American poets. I asked him if there was anything he particularly wanted me to mention. He said, “No, whatever you want to say will be fine.”
Uh huh. So all I have to go on is what’s in the residency bio. As my father would say, “Easy this game.”
I couldn’t tell you how many readers preceded him that night, or who they were or whether or not I enjoyed their work. I was too busy nervously stressing over what to say. I felt blank, like I was sure I would get up there and just spew forth whatever gibberish happened to come out of my mouth. “Tonka trucks! Wrist bands! Ampersand! David Wagoner!” I’m sure that would have gone over well.
There is, however, one great advantage to being raised by attorneys: when cornered my mouth will frequently know what to say before I do. Just before I went up, I remembered my first image of David, an unknown older man coming to dinner late with books under his arm. I took it as my lead and improvised.
“I first met David Wagoner, oh, almost seventy-two hours ago.” The entire room laughed and I immediately relaxed. “I wondered who this man was, walking through the dining hall carrying a stack of books.” Murmurs, proving that I was right – this was a common image of him. “I began to notice that every time I saw him, he had a stack of poetry books with him, and each time it was a different stack. So if you find yourself wondering what it takes to publish ten novels (etc., more bio information), it is this level of devotion to your craft. Ladies and gentlemen, David Wagoner.” Applause, and compliments for me on a job well done.
Back to my chair to collapse and try to pay attention to the readings.
By the way, I wasn’t lying. I really had noticed those things, I just hadn’t put it together in my head until I was talking.
