5 Tips for Reading [blog]:
1. Stamp out that poetry voice like a bad clove cigarette. Everyone hates it. Everyone offers this advice. Yet poetry voice persists.
Why? Well, you want to the audience to hear where you broke your lines. But rather than leaning into an extra-special monotonal moan and holding, try something more subtle: karate chop, fan kick, gong strike, or, best--a movement, pause, or pause for breath so slight it's barely noticeable. Think of how you'd naturally speak a sentence like "I'm not sure how to tell you this, but your child isn't 'gifted' after all." The slightest pause after "this" before rushing into the bad news (the next line in your poem) ...
This entry was posted by Ivy
on Monday, April 25, 2005 at 6:42 PM.
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2 comments:
At 10:55 PM,I wish someone would make this poster-sized and hang it prominently in front of the mike at our poetry readings. (I can't memorize anything, but I agree that it reads a lot better if I know the poem inside & out.) If one more chick gets up and reads in the breathy this-is-a-precious-poem voice, I'm going to hurl.
At 11:38 PM,
Hahahaha!
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