Hayes' poetry sparks interest at MU

Hayes said he likes to be inclusive and open in his poetry.

By Matt Reinig

Published Feb. 22, 2008

Nearly 100 MU students, teachers and poetry enthusiasts gathered Wednesday night at the Reynolds Alumni Center to listen to poet Terrance Hayes read his work.

The Center for the Literary Arts sponsored the event.

Hayes took to the stage with papers and books in hand.

“Let me get my clock going,” Hayes said, looking down at his watch. “I don’t want to keep you all here for any longer than four, five hours.”

Hayes, a creative writing professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, read a total of 15 poems Wednesday and offered brief commentary in between readings.

His poems included a tribute to rapper Kool Keith and a poem inspired by the work of Theodor Geisel, better known by his pen name, Dr. Seuss. Hayes said a prevailing undercurrent in his poetry is receptiveness.

“Openness, receptive to everything, like trying not to cut out any person or any group of people,” Hayes said. “I might be in the cut with some guys getting in trouble on a Monday and I might be at a president’s dinner on Tuesday. That would be ideal for me.”

Hayes read poems from his book “Wind in a Box” as well as recent poems he said had not been read openly until Wednesday night at MU.

Hayes said his MU visit was one of two poetry readings he does each month.

“I wouldn’t call it a tour,” Hayes said. “People just ask me to come.”

Hayes said he is scheduled to read in Indiana, Alaska, Virginia and New York.

Hayes said his poetic style is one that “resists style.”

“I don’t want to just be one kind of poet,” Hayes said. “Like when you go into the bookstore, you can read any book you want to read. No one says ‘you can only read the black books,’ or ‘you can only read the comic books,’ or ‘you can only read the books about being from the south.’ I just feel like I resist any of those sorts of boxes.”

Among the students who attended was MU senior Seth Graves.

“He’s (Hayes) famous because of the way he talks,” Graves said. “He’s a very overwhelming speaker. To me, he’s more of a spoken word poet. Half of reading for him is going through the motions.”

Graves also said Hayes might appeal to those who are not poetry fans.

“He really appeals to people who generally don’t like poetry,” Graves said. “In the poetry world he’s like a rising pop star, in a good way.”

Graves is a former member of the Maneater staff.

MU Freshman Jeremiah Willis also attended the reading.

“I loved it,” Willis said. “He had a great personality. He was speaking the truth. I thought that his poems were real and they touched on so many different subjects within each poem.”

After the reading, Hayes spoke with fans and signed autographs in a neighboring conference room.

Three of his books, “Wind in a Box,” “Hip Logic” and “Muscular Music” were available for purchase outside the event.