Some of us have believed since we awoke into sentience. Others of us started out with our confidence invested elsewhere and only later were (or have yet to be) won over to the faith. Maybe because I am of the latter group, I think that, in a volleyball game, the johnny-come-latelies would crush the goody two-shoes. In any case, whether it’s fiction, nonfiction, or poetry (“the supreme fiction” – Wallace Stevens), writers write from their vision, their worldview. And when a writer’s worldview undergoes a revolution or conversion, it shows in the writing. This session on the poetry of Mary Karr (honorary captain of the j-c-latelies) will look at her poems with an eye for how her movement toward, into, and beyond conversion is reflected in her poetry. Suggested p/rereading: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Thomas S. Kuhn.
A few seasonally appropriate (and stunning) examples of Mary’s poetry:
“Descending Theology: Christ Human”
“Descending Theology: The Garden”
“Descending Theology: The Resurrection”
“Oratorio for the Unbecoming”
Here’s the audio from the breakout session
[audio https://mbird.com/resources/?show&file_name=15%20Baby%20You%20Can%20Drive%20My%20Karr_%20Conversion%20and%20the%20Poetry%20of%20Mary%20Karr%201.mp3]Or you can download it by clicking here.
COMMENTS
3 responses to “Baby, You Can Drive My Karr: Conversion and the Poetry of Mary Karr (A Breakout Session)”
Leave a Reply
You’re going to make us read The Structure of Scientific Revolution and relate it to Mary Karr? All I can say is I hope your breakout isn’t the same time as my breakout, because I’m coming to yours. That sounds way too fun.
While on topic I have to toss in another suggestion from her late ’90s work, Viper Rum.
Field of Skulls (http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/171884)
It’s moments like these where I understand her urging for emotional clarity…. “to rediscover the gravity of certain ideas with the conviction that is only born of feeling.”
These lines are etched onto the noodles of my brain because man it makes me FEEL.
Last section:
…If the skulls are there—
let’s say they do press toward you
against night’s scrim—could they not stare
with slack jawed envy at the fine flesh
that covers your scalp, the numbered hairs,
at the force your hands hold?