Elisa New: recommendation

Transcript context

…Do you have a Shaquille O’Neal story or impression that you’re able to share with us? NEWWhat a hoot it was, [laughs] reading poetry with Shaquille O’Neal. I think the funniest thing for me was that they had to put me on this chair. They had to take this stool, I guess they’re accustomed to doing this, so that I didn’t look like a teeny, weeny, weeny, little person. He was sitting in a normal chair. My feet when I interviewed him were hanging way, way above the ground. He was splayed on the ground. He’s immensely thoughtful. He’s quick-witted but deep. He was really ready to read a poem with me. He was all over it. He was all over it, and I loved his gusto. We were reading a poem that rewarded quick wits, but actually also rewarded the capacity to pause and say, “Hmm.” In the course of our conversation, he realized this was one of those poems where he was going to have to say, “Hmm.” I love that he slowed down. I’ll close with two questions very directly about you. To invoke the economist’s concept of comparative advantage — and please be immodest — how would you describe or characterize what you bring to poetry that maybe other people don’t quite as well? I think I bring a belief in the capacity of any person sitting across from me to have a blast reading a poem. I really believe that human language — even encoded in some of the arcane ways, poems, and code — language is fascinating to other human beings. Somehow, I persuade others to believe with me that they can have a blast reading a poem, and that the development of understanding that can occur as you read 15 lines or 20 lines is just about as much fun as you can have, and a cerebral kind of fun, the sort of fun that some people look to in the Sunday crossword puzzle or the Wednesday cross. It’s that kind of fun, and I think that visiting with me, if you’ve never tasted that kind of fun, it might be worth trying. Last question. You meet an 18-year-old, and this person wants in some way to be a future version of you, Elisa New, and asks you for advice. What advice do you give them?…

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