Post by altinfo35 on May 20, 2012 20:11:06 GMT -5
Tony Hoagland grew up on multiple military bases as the son of an army doctor. Later on, he attended Williams College. Sickness had a profound effect on Hoagland’s life because of the illnesses of both his mother and sister which he alludes to in many of his poems. However, despite sickness in his family, Hoagland went on to produce wonderful poetry that won him many awards. Hoagland is the winner of the 2008 Jackson Poetry Prize, the 2005 O.B Hardison Jr. Prize, and the 2005 Mark Twain Award. He now teaches at the University of Houston.
Hoagland is the author of four volumes of poetry; Unincorporated Persons in the Late Honda Dynasty, Sweet Ruin, Donkey Gospel, and What Narcissism Means to Me. His titles certainly reflect his style which Publishers Weekly calls a great “balance between absurdity and confession”. He strikes a balance between the two as he covers a multitude of topics in his poetry ranging from love, sickness, family relations, social observations, and self-reflections.
For example, in his poem “Social Life” Hoagland tries to understand the social customs of our species. He says that we go to parties just to get “a nudging of the stamen”, or feel somewhat satisfied by the flattery of others. Hoagland admits that he much prefers solitude to unneeded social gatherings. On the other hand, in his poem “Beauty”, Hoagland talks about his sister’s sickness. Her prettiness “was over, done, finite/ and all those other beautiful women/ in the magazines and on the streets/ just kept being beautiful”, but Hoagland realizes that she doesn’t care about her beauty anymore, and “that, too, was beautiful”. Ultimately, Hoagland narrates the observations of his life and his reflections to the reader.
A master of language, Hoagland captivates readers with his highly-caffeinated free verse. In addition, Hoagland’s poems are at times laugh-out-loud funny. His willingness to be offensive and push the boundaries allows for uncanny humor. In his poem “I have News for You” Hoagland writes “there are some people who don’t interpret the behavior/ of a fly in a motel room as a mocking representation of their though process”, although he implies some people should interpret their thought process as equivalent to a fly’s.
Furthermore, his free verse is bursting with straight talk. He said himself that “the willingness to be offensives sets free the ruthless observer in all of us, the spiteful perceptive angel who sees and tells, unimpeded by nicety or second thoughts”. Without a doubt, Hoagland is willing to be offensive in his poems, and it certainly makes for a more enjoyable read.
However, Hoagland is more than wit and humor. He combines wit, humor, and an unparalleled moral curiosity masterfully in his poems. Stephen Young praises Hoagland’s poetry saying that “there is nothing escapist or diversionary about Tony Hoagland’s poetry… [his] poems are exhilarating for their fierce moral curiosity, their desire to name the truth, and their celebration of the resilience of human nature”. In a world where so little is unfiltered, Hoagland’s poetry is refreshing and enlightening. His poetry has certainly been enjoyable for me to read as well as eye-opening and inspiring.
Mr. Hoagland is here today to share some of his poetry with us. Please give him a warm welcome.