American poet Tess Taylor held a reading and book signing in conjunction with the C.D. Wright Women Writers Conference and Artist in Residence program in the Mccastlain Ballroom Nov. 4. 

Provost Patricia Poulter introduced Taylor to the crowd. 

“To have a poet who is saying ‘let’s spend our time listening and shaping words together’ is such an honor and such a sacred space for thinking of big ideas. We are so grateful to have Tess Taylor here with us,” Poulter said.

Before reading poems aloud, Taylor spoke about the legacy of C.D. Wright. Wright was a poet born in Arkansas in 1949 who went on to become the poet laureate of Rhode Island.

“I come with awe, as I know you do, at being able to extend the legacy of C.D. Wright’s work that means so much to us in charting pathways for the way we as writers investigate,” Taylor said. 

In honor of the conference, Taylor recited some of Wright’s work.

“In that spirit, I wanted to open by offering up some of C.D. Wright’s words about beech trees from a magnificent work called ‘Casting a Deep Shade,’” Taylor said.

Taylor also spoke on the importance of art forms such as poetry.

“I would like everyone here to know that statistically speaking, your art is actually good for you and your community,” Taylor said. “If you are an artist, you are more likely to graduate from high school, more likely to vote [and] more likely to be a leader in your community.”

Taylor emphasized the importance of art in bringing people together, such as events like the conference. 

“When we write out poems in prisons or beech trees, we are not only making art, we are building unexpected communities,” Taylor said. 

Junior Tierney Earnest enjoyed hearing Taylor’s poetry and ideas. 

“I am a creative writer, so obviously I do love creative writing and poetry,” Earnest said. “There is a lot that is portrayed in presenting a poem and listening to it being read, rather than just reading it yourself.”

Taylor read pieces from her book, “Rift Zone,” including poems “Sixth Grade, 1988” and “Berkeley in the Nineties.”

“‘Rift Zone’ is about my home in California, about living on a fault line both metaphorically and figuratively, about leaving and return homecoming, about the fact that the Bay Area I grew up in, and the Bay Area I returned to later are difficult places,” Taylor said. 

She also read excerpts from her book “Last West: Roadsongs for Dorothea Lange,” and spoke about what inspired her to write the book.

“I came across the fact that Dorothea Lange had photographed the coffee shop around my house, and actually my neighborhood in the 1940s, during the war,” Taylor said.

Lange’s journals documented conversations she had with the people she photographed and Taylor used them as direct inspiration.

“A lot of it was about the cost of getting by, between how much money you made and how much groceries cost and the voices felt very contemporary to me,” Taylor said.

Taylor spoke about how she views poetry.

“I have actually begun to think that poetry is less a discipline and more an interdiscipline of harnessing the energies between languages, schools, disciplines and modes of thinking,” Taylor said. 

After the reading, Taylor signed books. Food and refreshments were served.

Throughout the conference, Taylor also led workshops and students such as Earnest were able to attend. 

“You get more experience, and you get to meet people with your interests that you wouldn’t otherwise get to meet, and I think that’s great,” Earnest said.