From limericks to grocery lists as “found poetry,”
everyone has written some sort of verse. In this vast poetic world,
it is survival of the fittest ““ and Susan Wheeler has proven
that she wields the creative vitality and originality needed to
thrive.
Her accolades are a testament to her survival skills: She has
won the Four Way Books Award Series selected by U.S. Poet Laureate
Robert Hass, the Norma Farber First Book Award of the Poetry
Society of America and was short-listed for the Los Angeles Times
Book Award. Tonight at the UCLA Hammer Museum at 7 p.m. Wheeler
will be sharing her award-winning poetry.
Her poetry is known for its interest in American life and
culture, using traditional form with unusual allusions and
language. But when asked to describe what really drives and
fascinates her as a poet, Wheeler’s answer is simple.
“Words,” she says flatly. “I just get such a
thrill out of words ““ from corny phrases to great
words.”
And her thrill for words is evident in the variation she uses in
her poetry, from pop culture references to 50-cent words like
“agglutinin,” “hypoteni” and
“perspicacity.”
“As a poet, you try to make language fresh again,”
Wheeler said. “We have to try harder to come up with
combinations of words that may not denote ““ they may not
describe precisely the feeling ““ but they may connote it,
they may give you associations that get closer to the actual
feeling.”
Even though Wheeler’s command of the English language is
strong and her vocabulary is extensive, she wasn’t born using
phrases like “sodden reprieve.” To keep her literary
muscles flexed, she keeps a running list of fascinating words she
comes across, reads the word of the day online, and plays Scrabble
with her husband. And even though she’s a poet and he’s
a scientist, he usually beats her.
“He has a real knack for getting seven-letter
words,” Wheeler said. “I get one once every blue moon
but he comes up with one almost every game.”
But having a grasp of words is only half the battle. A truly
good poet must find their creative voice to personalize their work
““ at least that’s what most people say. Wheeler says
she doesn’t subscribe to that spoon-fed idea.
“Workshops teach you to find your voice, but I feel like a
personal imprint happens whether you want it to or not. The main
thing is to keep challenging yourself,” she said.
Wheeler even studied art history in graduate school just to move
away from her style, which she felt had become “too
academic” through the study of creative writing as an
undergraduate. Now as a creative writing teacher at Princeton and
the New School, she urges her students not to get locked into one
academic territory.
“I think the most important thing is to make sure they
feel like they have a free and open terrain to work in,” she
said.
And Wheeler’s poems do exhibit a certain freedom in their
refusal to adhere to one specific genre, tone or voice.
“I’ve never had a consistent voice. My poems are
always a little bit more jumbled. But within that, I’ve
always written in a number of different styles,” Wheeler
said.
And this originality has been noticed by readers, writers and
colleagues everywhere. UCLA English professor Stephen Yenser, who
is hosting the reading, once said in a review of her work,
“If all good poems resist (specific) enemies, it is clear
that two of Wheeler’s poems’ enemies are regularity and
predictability.”
But though Wheeler does say that she aims at remaining daring
and unpredictable in her poetry, she laughs when she admits
she’s not exactly a daredevil as a person.
“I’m really predictable,” she said “I
like regularity. I like routine, I don’t have a lot of it,
but I like it. I crave work periods where I can shut myself off and
write, but those are really rare.”
But one thing very unexpected about the seasoned writer was that
she worked as an auto mechanic for three years while in
college.
“Former mechanic” she specified. “I
don’t want people calling me with their car
problems.”
Tonight Wheeler will be reading from her most recent collection
“Source Codes” and a few works from
“Smokes,” but she is most excited about reading from
“Ledger,” a collection not yet published.
“I love the Hammer ““ (reading there) is a terrific
experience,” Wheeler said. “Being a writer, it’s
not like being a cellist or an actor where you have a live audience
that reacts. It’s always nice to go and put your work out
there and see what happens.”