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Performance poet hopes to invoke students |
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Thursday, 15 November 2007 |
 | Davenport
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by LINDSAY TIGAR
Lifestyles Editor
Everything.
This is the response doris davenport, a performance poet who prefers the lower-case spelling of her first and last time, provided to what inspires her poetry.
“From my family and early environment to foreign travel,” she said. “From socio-political concerns to my latest headache…and always, other poets and fiction writers.”
Doris Davenport will visit Appalachian State University today as part of the Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series.
Her program begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Table Rock Room of Plemmons Student Union.
The event is free.
Davenport began writing poetry at age 12, and has excelled as a writer and educator throughout her life.
Davenport is an associate English professor at Albany State University
in Georgia and has taught at a number of universities and conducted
programs at multiple locations across the nation.
“I’ve traveled all over this country and been invited to Italy,” she said. “‘Eat Thunder’ was translated into Italian.”
As a performance poet, davenport provides a unique opportunity for students to witness a different style of poetry reading.
“[Performance poetry] involves several other dimensions, such as music,
singing, movement, audience interaction,” she said. “Performance is the
original poetry, if you think about it…total entertainment, especially
in the African American expressive traditions.”
Davenport has a Ph.D. in African American literature from the University of Southern California.
She hopes to invoke several emotions from students and other audience members during her performance.
“A range of responses, from serious thought and reflection to joy, happiness, silliness,” she said.
“Sometimes I want to provoke action as well, like do something about
domestic violence, white supremacy, ignorance, bigotry, homophobia or
change something about oneself, like find poetry in daily life, relax,
etc.”
This will be Davenport’s second visit to Appalachian State and she is excited to return.
She presented the Carol Grotnes Belk Distinguished Lecture July 13,
2006 about the “intense desire for poetry in all mountain people,
particularly the Affrilachians, a term that is used to describe people
like herself who are both African American and Appalachian,” according
to the press release about the event.
“It was a very, very wonderful experience,” she said.
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