Kicking off this season’s readings at the Boutelle Day Poetry Center on Feb. 28, Jennifer Chang brought a calm but assertive energy with her writings of war, nature and family. Her soft spoken tone was evocative of childhood memories and reflections of trauma with poems such as “Again A Solstice” and “Dorothy Wordsworth.”
Isabel Cruz ’24J, the Core Baptista-Boutelle Day Poetry Center Intern, said: “Chang’s poetry has been influential in my own writing. Ever since I wrote about ‘Dorothy Wordsworth’ — which is featured in “Some Say The Lark” — for my English 199 Class with Professor Melissa Parrish, I’ve carried Chang’s ideas about the pastoral tradition and disruption with me.”
Melissa Parrish, Assistant English Professor, said of the reading: “It was really terrific to hear Jennifer Chang, in person, especially because I am currently teaching a confessional poetry course, and she so eloquently discussed poetry as a site that gives us a ‘ritual’ for dealing with trauma as ‘the event without a center.’”
Chang writes of the seasons and particularly with, as she puts it, “the spirit of winter.” A line from her poem “The Strangers” reads: “I hope for snow in winter and the fortitude to bear it.” She is purposeful in echoing the specific feeling of a storm, and those feelings you just can’t seem to put into words with a heavy weight on the word “fortitude.”
Chang described one of her poems as “a poem written to emulate drifting,” and before reading it, made the disclaimer that it is okay for our minds to drift. Chang uses the nature poem genre with her own spin to encourage reflection and solitude.
Vivian DeRosa ’24 said: “The way she actively encouraged people to let our minds wander while she was reading her walking poem — I just felt like it was an entirely new way to read or listen to a poem… She questions what a poem can be — it can be like a walk where you drift in and out of the moment.”
During the Q&A portion, moderated by Art Middleton of the English department, Chang emphasized the importance of education and building community as a writer. She said that education is what can “lead you into light” and shares the lessons of repetition and patience that she has learned. As an example, she said, “In my education and writing, horses keep coming back.”
On teaching Chang’s poetry, Parrish said, “I think Chang’s poem gives us a real opportunity in class to think and write about not just what constitutes a ‘good’ poem, but what it means to write poetry as an Asian woman poet when untroubled pastoral landscapes remain in some ways the canonical default.”
Chang uses these pastoral conventions and a sense of curiosity to guide herself through healing from generational trauma. She guides the audience toward an acceptance of repetition, saying that it is “a source of music.”
Her walking poem reinforced these ideas as well, with DeRosa adding: “Walking gives a sense of unproductivity which is a break from the productivity that we have to strive for all the time.” Chang spoke to the audience in a reassuring way which calmed the rigorous routine of being a student and grounded them in the moment.
On finding a writing community, Chang said, “I learned a lot about how to find family and how to find love.” She emphasizes the importance of feeling free when being cared for and taking the time to care for yourself as well.
Chang’s character as a curious, gentle poet resonated with many students. As an intern at the poetry center, Cruz was able to connect with Chang outside of the event. Cruz said, “Getting to meet and share a meal with Chang as an intern was truly a pleasure because she is not only a prolific poet but a caring person, eager to listen and give advice on everything from grad school to zodiac signs.”
DeRosa agreed, “She was just excellent.”
Failure and starting over are also integral to Chang’s learning and writing experiences, which is a takeaway valuable to anyone in the room. She said, “You really need to learn to embrace failure as a poet or any artist.”
Chang’s book, “Some Say the Lark,” is available for purchase at Broadside Books.
