On the evening of Thursday, Oct. 6, poet Alex Grant read from his works in the Molnar Recital Hall of the Wygal building. Grant is a native of Scotland and currently resides in Chapel Hill, N.C. When not writing, he works for a not-for-profit healthcare organization. His works have caused him to be nominated for numerous awards, including Meridian's Best New Poets anthology.
Other than a lack in the number of attendants, the poetry reading went very well. I personally found Grant's humorous nature, accompanied by his Scottish accent, to be quite charming and refreshing. Despite his surprisingly calm demeanor, Grant seems to be a very adventurous man, not just in life, but in his writings as well. One of his books titled "The Circus Poems," which was published last year, is a collection dedicated to various elements of circus and carnival life. "I've always been fascinated by the circus, even though I've only been [there] one or two times," Grant explained. The book has been nominated for the 2011 Roanoke-Chowan Award for Poetry. "The Ringmaster," "The Fortune Teller," and "The Magician" are just a few that Grant read from "The Circus Poems."
Like most, if not all writers, Grant went through a dry spell where he just could not write the way he wanted. "It took me awhile to develop a voice," Grant said. "I thought I was completely done with writing. I wrote in high school, stopped for awhile, then picked it back up with a huge leap."
As a writer myself, I can completely relate to how he was feeling back then. Writing has never been a particularly easy task for me. I don't think it is for anyone honestly. However, there are things that can assist you in writing just what you want, how you want. Research, or "drunk-Googling" as Grant would call it, is a good way to find what you're not looking for. "I find things that I would never think of," said Grant. "Also, it provides accuracy and authenticity."
Everyone has some source of inspiration or influence, whether it's for writing, singing or painting. For Grant, two prominent names come to his mind. "Walt Whitman and T.S. Eliot are the two best poets that ever wrote, in my opinion," Grant stated. "They were poetic geniuses just as Albert Einstein was a genius." Maybe one day Grant will be a Whitman or Eliot to an aspiring poet. I wouldn't be surprised at all.
