| 26 August 2009
ScottishPower Studio Theatre
23 August, 19.00
Sharon Olds is a funny mixture. Stepping tentatively onto the stage in her black two-piece, an incongruous sparkly lock in her flowing grey hair, she looks benign and witchy.
She speaks with quiet self-deprecation, and punctuates her readings (we get through about a dozen of her poems, from up-and-coming as well as extant collections) with flares of ironic humour. Privacy, she says, is critical for her: she describes how she must write alone, away from distraction, and her manner is a little reticent, a little shy, oddly diffident for a bestselling poet.
Yet the material she shares with her audience is at times painfully personal. The themes of domestic misery, sexuality and bereavement for which her work is famous are explored with unashamed self-reference. We hear about her parents’ unhappy marriage, her own divorce (‘my ex-husband’ becomes a familiar character early on in the proceedings, and I find myself wondering how the poor chap feels about having his marital insecurities gutted and showcased), and the moving account of her mother’s death from terminal illness. The gloom isn’t unremitting: we’re treated to a composting toilet and an ‘Ode to the Hymen’, which draw gentle laughter from the audience. Her poems, read aloud, sound for the most part like passages of prose; without the quirky lineation of their text, only the odd flourish of imagery reminds you that this isn’t just a rather one-sided conversation.
Olds is charming in the question-and-answer session, freely acknowledging “I don’t know what poetry is, or what it’s for”, coping tactfully with some rather verbose fans, and even declaring “I feel a poem coming on!” after an insightful question about how far writing is about reparation.
The atmosphere is cosy, rather than electric. But I’m surprised, and impressed, to find myself crying on the way home.
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