Poet participates in Writers Series

Poetry, for some, is magical. Even if its about sexual cannibalism.

“In the Penguin Book of… Poetry, for some, is magical. Even if its about sexual cannibalism.

“In the Penguin Book of Literary Terms, one of the definitions for poetry is ‘a species of magic’ — that says it all,” poet Kimiko Hahn said in an e-mail.

Last night the poet recited a work of her latest collection, Toxic Flora, in front of about 200 people in the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium.

She was the guest for the latest installment of the Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series.

Hahn, who is also a professor at Queens College, chose not to limit herself when it comes to the topics of her poems.

She wrote in an open verse format that incorporated formal elements and influences of classical Japanese literature while discussing topics ranging from global warming to sexual cannibalism — all while relating it to her personal life.

“With all that pressure the female mantis devours the head of the still waiting male and then moves on to the rest of his body,” she read at the event.

Her published collections have garnered much attention in the poetry world. The recipient of numerous fellowships and awards, the poetry world has paid attention to her work.

Jeff Oaks, managing director of the Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series and an English lecturer, has been teaching Hahn’s varied works in his classes for several years.

“I teach Kimiko Hahn’s work because I find it smart, funny, engagingly self-aware, structurally inventive and emotionally vulnerable,” Oaks said, as he introduced Hahn to the stage. “For me she’s a model of the best poetic practice.”

Oaks noted the interest that his students found in Hahn’s use of wide-ranging references, from ancient Japanese literature to the science section of the New York Times from which her latest work is based.

“Hers is a poetry that reaches out, that while it keeps a high level of skepticism is also hoping to understand and see in new ways and never seems afraid, at least to me, to try out an idea, to play with a phrase, to turn it around, translate it and make slippery with possibility,” Oaks said.

Despite the success of her work, Hahn recognizes that few of her audience members are poets.

“It seems that many people are ‘afraid’ of poetry — that it will make them feel dumb,” Hahn said in an e-mail. “But in fact, treating poetry as art rather than an academic exercise, one can take in the words and enjoy.”

Hahn also noted that “a great many [more] people enjoy poetry than we think.”

Audience members seemed to agree.

“She does some interesting things with traditional form that I find engaging. I’m not here so much as to learn, but to experience,” sophomore Nina Sabak said. “It’s always interesting to hear someone read their own work.”

While many in attendance were there as part of writing class requirements, they did not seem to mind.

“I thought that she was a great reader,” senior Sara Jayne Poletti said. “I’m more interested in Oriental and Middle Asian poetry, but it was interesting to read something more modern and hear her more recent works.”