People often assume that poets write about esoteric, abstract subjects. However, Kim Bridgford beat the stereotype with her poems that discuss the woman with the longest fingernails and the chicken who survived 18 months without a head.
Bridgford, an English professor at Fairfield University who has been named the 2007 touring poet for the Connecticut Poetry Circuit, held a poetry reading on Monday at Fairfield University. She concentrated on excerpts from her new collection, “In the Extreme: Sonnets about World Records,” for which she received the 2007 Donald Justice Poetry Award from the West Chester University Poetry Center in Pennsylvania.
Bridgford is known for her lively, passionate readings. In the tour, Bridgford said her goal is to demystify the art of writing poetry to college writers.
“It’s an extraordinary honor to be selected. I hope to allay people’s fears about what poetry is, and perhaps instill in them an inclination to write a poem,” she said in a press release.
Bridgford said she enjoyed stopping at Fairfield during her tour.
“It’s been nice to do the tour and then come back here to see familiar faces,” she said.
Bridgford continued by reading excepts of poems concerning strange world records.
She said that during the writing process she took some time to read through “Guinness World Records 2005” to pick which ones she wanted to write about.
“I like the ones [records] that have quirkiness to them that I can relate too,” she said.
One “quirky” record of choice was the largest cup of coffee.
“I love coffee so when I ran into this record, I had to investigate it in every way,” she said.
Another record she discussed was the highest drop of an egg in feet where the egg was left unbroken.
“I like to think about faith and how they relate,” she said. “Sometimes it just seems like a miracle that these things happen.”
One of Bridgford’s favorites poems is written from the viewpoint of the lover of the lady with the longest fingernails.
A line from the poem reads, “So many people lead boring lives/Instead, I loved a woman edged in knives.”
The Connecticut Poetry Circuit, which annually selects an outstanding poet to give readings throughout the state and meet with collegiate poets, picked Bridgford because of her great accomplishments.
She has received numerous honors from the Endowment for the Arts and the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, as well as written three books of poetry, “Undone” (David Robert Books, 2003), nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, “Instead of Maps”, (David Robert Books, 2005) nominated for the Poets’ Prize, and the most recently published, “In the Extreme: Sonnets about World Records”, (Contemporary Poetry Review Press, 2007) winner of the 2007 Donald Justice Poetry Award from the West Chester University Poetry Center in Pennsylvania.
At the end of the reading, Bridgford discussed some of her future projects, including writing sonnets about the Red Sox and Hitchcock films.
“I think it’s exciting to write about people and places that people are already excited about,” she said.
Laura Marciano ’08, a creative writing major, said she was eager to see Bridgford, her mentor, in a different environment.
“I feel like she is very humble when I meet with her, so it’s nice to see her in performance mode,” said Marciano.
Elizabeth Otter ’09, one of Bridgford’s current students, said she was happy to hear her teacher’s work outside of the classroom.
“She’s a great teacher and she is just very inspirational. I was really happy to hear her poems in person from her. It’s a great opportunity to hear a poet read their own work.”
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