Day 1
On the first day of the Bathhouse readings we listened to Dimitri Anastasopoulos, Camille Roy, and Rachel Letvisky read from some of their past works as well as new pieces either recently published or currently being written. Having four creative writing classes this semester I’ve read pieces from every one of those writers.
I personally am not a fan of the pieces I read from Anastasopoulos’s work, so it was no surprise to me that I was not a fan of his reading. He read quite clear and enthusiastically, but it wasn’t my cup of tea. Also as I had not read his new book, which is what he read from, I had no idea what he was talking about.
Personally I am not opposed to Camille Roy’s writing. Sherwood Forest is an interesting read. It was nice to hear the words actually read aloud by the author. For me it created a more intimate space with the language inside of the work. She also read rom something she is currently working on, which sadly I do not remember anything about.
My favorite part of the readings was Rachel Levitsky’s section. She actually came and spoke to the creative writing class I was in just minutes before the reading, and it definitely helped set up the experience for me. I find her book Neighbor to be very entertaining, though not necessarily in the conventional sense. It was easily the most enjoyable of the three readings for me.
Day 2
Day two of the Bathhouse readings was more of a question and answer kind of set up. The audience got to ask questions plaguing them about the different writers’ work. Before the session Camille Roy spent an entire class period with my Crtw 426 class answering all of our questions regarding her work. I thought that was a really great way to sort of get our minds prepared for the event later that day. As I mentioned previously, I had a similar opportunity to experience that in regards to Levitsky’s work, and I must say that it really does help in gaining an appreciation and understanding of their work.
Each reader got a certain amount of time to present a project or discuss an idea related to their work before the Q&A section. The only thing I did not like was that it felt like an overflow of thoughts, questions, and information. One can only take in so much in one sitting, and as this type of event is not really my thing at all, it became a bit overwhelming. I honestly couldn’t tell you too much that I actually picked up or gained from the second day of the Bathhouse event. It all began to blur together. I think it was a great concept though, and I’m sure students who find that sort of thing interesting gained a great deal from it.