Publikacija SEP 2011 - Vilenica

public poetry reading in present time, but this can also be used for the
promotion of literature and poetry, because it transcends advertising
dimensions and serves to bring benefits to publishers and create profit.
In civilised and richer societies, where the commercial status of poetry
can be questionable, the state covers the material and profit deficit
by promoting poetry and poetry collections at literary gatherings and
public appearances of poets. However, the aim of public poetry readings
is not to gain a better position of poetry for commercial purposes
or to please the reading public, but ennoblement and upgrading of the
poem which can acquire completely new value when interpreted by
its author. Similarly, readers, who at a public reading come face to face
with a poet, inevitably experience his or her poetry differently, regardless
of whether this leads to a better or worse experience of a particular
poem. There have always existed differences between the written
and the spoken, but when we talk of poetry, which is dependent on
rhythm, sound and – if you like – melody, it becomes totally unnecessary
to explain the advantages of live poetry reading. Assuming
that readers or listeners in the audience are not highly or specifically
trained for understanding poetry, their experience will, among other
things, depend on the manner of poetic interpretation. As a teenager,
in the city library I first had an opportunity to hear the famous poem
Okrenimo se kredencu sirotinjskom (Let’s turn to the cupboard of the
poor) by Vujica Rešin Tucić, a great avant-garde Yugoslav poet. It was
very crowded in the packed hall and I couldn’t even see who was reciting
the poem, but the interpretation was such that many generations
have remembered it for 40 years. It seems fascinating that until yesterday
I believed the poem was titled March on the Cupboard, because the
poet had recited it in the rhythm of a reveille. For many years crowds
of people were coming to the poet’s live readings, although his published
book of poetry was available from every bookshop.
Public poetry reading can help bring art closer to every person who
is spiritually sensitive and feels a desire for the elevated, regardless of
their academic background. The late 1970’s saw the advent of literary
promotions which were taking place in all kinds of public places – in
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