Students gathered in McManus Theater, Tuesday Feb. 20, for the latest installment of the Modern Masters reading series. The evening spotlighted the work and sense of humor of author Edgar Kunz. As a poet and professor at Goucher College, Kunz returned home during his “Fixer North American Tour” to share his poetry in his home city.
He read selections from his two published poetry collections, “Tap Out” and “Fixer,” both have received critical acclaim for their deadpan delivery and artful composition.
The two collections share courageous details about his blue-collar upbringing, as well as odd jobs and people he encountered in his life. Audience members were seen both teary eyed and full of laughter at different points in the reading. Kunz’s work largely revolves around his personal fixations, but he embraces the hold they have over him.
“Writers are revealed by what they obsess over. So, my favorite poets you can track from book to book, like, oh my god, this guy is crazy about sharks or something. That humanizes them,” Kunz said.
Kunz’s passions showed through in both his work and in what he hopes people will take away from listening to and reading it, seeing poetry as a personal and human evolving activity.
“Part of our responsibility as humans is to try to push past the surfaces of things, that our first impression or first reaction isn’t necessarily the right reaction. What poetry helps me to do is push past my first impulse. I think that’s important work to be a good human being,” Kunz said.
Kunz was quick to give out advice to students as someone experienced in writing. He warned the students about reaching a “premature polish” in their writing, where the poem reaches its peak too quickly and cannot improve. Meanwhile, he championed the editing process and encouraged students to not be afraid to scrap something that is not working.
“When the writing is going well, your unconscious mind is making all these connections the conscious mind would never. There’s a poem about Stevie Nicks in this book. I never would’ve put Stevie Nicks in my first book,” Kunz said.
As for the program, Modern Masters is a longstanding event established by Prof. Karen Fish of the writing department at Loyola University, and as the coordinator of the event, she always introduces the author of the evening with a mission statement for the program.
“In the most basic sense a reading series allows us to hear the work of writers who are currently writing. It gives voice to modern texts, allows writers to provide anecdotal context and for us to enjoy hearing the story, the poem, the essay in the voice of the writer that wrote it,” Fish said.
Prof. Jane Satterfield of the writing department also weighed in on the importance of these poetry reading events. She often sends her students to the Modern Masters series and other writing events as required attendance for class credit.
“It’s a chance to meet well known writers and to ask questions about the work they’ve been reading. [Students] can get inspiration from it,” Satterfield said.
The third and final Modern Masters reading of the academic year is slated for April 18 at 6 p.m., featuring author Susanna Sonnenberg, author of two memoir novels “She Matters: A Life in Friendship” and “Her Last Death.”
