“Undone.” “Instead of Maps.” “In the Extreme.” These are the past, present and future titles of the books written by Dr. Kim Bridgford, an award-winning poet and professor of English at Fairfield University.
Bridgford introduced her new book of poems, “Instead of Maps,” at an open forum that attracted 50 people to the DiMenna-Nyselius Library at Fairfield University on Monday night.
“Poets tend to write on sad subjects,” said Bridgford. She said that when choosing to decide which poems to read, she wanted to show both the sad and the humorous aspects of life. Sharing light-hearted poems and being able to make the audience laugh is something she said she enjoys and tries always to incorporate in her readings.
Bridgford found many inspiring moments during her travels to St. Petersburg and Iceland. With intriguing titles such as “Pants Made from a Corpse Replica-Witchcraft Museum,” Bridgford pulled in the audience to her encounters in Iceland.
Amy DiSanto ’08 thought that this was one of the strongest points in Bridgford’s poetry.
“I like how she took her passions and translated them into humorous experiences,” she said.
Although DiSanto has never read any of Bridgford’s work, she enjoyed what she heard and was especially interested in the Bridgford’s upcoming book entitled In the Extreme, which are poems that are inspired by the “Guinness Book of World Records.”
Dr. Michael White, an English professor who introduced Bridgford, described her poems as “highly crafted works of art.” White said her vision was deeper and decidedly darker in this book, as compared to her first book “Undone,” which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
Bridgford said that she was always drawn to stories and always enjoyed rhyming. In high school, she started to become serious about poetry and this continued into college.Bridgford studied English at the University of Iowa. She was awarded Connecticut Professor of the Year in 1994, and her works have appeared in over 300 publications throughout her career.
Her continued enthusiasm and constant dream of writing poetry only help to motivate Bridgford toward new ideas and new ways to write, which she shares in “Instead of Maps.” From experiences that scare her to those that make her laugh, Bridgford tries to express her life openly through poetry.
“It has never lost its spark for me” she said about writing.
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