NEDRA ROGERS
© Lydia Lowe 4/12/2011
This week's poet was Nedra Rogers. I had checked out Nedra's book, "Soul's Night Out", at the library in preparation for this week's reading. I fell in love with her writing and her poetry really spoke to me. So, I was looking forward to hearing her read and getting a chance to meet her in person.
Nedra is very unassuming and somewhat reserved. She was nervous and her delivery didn't come off well. It was to bad, too, because her work is exceptional. It was interesting that when she simply spoke to the audience from her heart, she relaxed and was funny, interesting, and insightful. When she began to read her poetry, she tensed up and had a bad case of nerves. I think it's because her poetry is very important to her, it speaks from her heart and she wants so badly for others to understand her journey.
I had read the poems earlier and was familiar with them. It's always worthwhile to see the actual author read in person. But for those in the audience who hadn't read the poems, I believe they struggled somewhat with knowing when one poem ended and the next one began. They didn't know when to clap, when or how to react.
All in all though, it was a very unique experience and I wouldn't have missed it. Nedra is very approachable, easy to talk to, and had a smile on her face most of the time. When she read her poems the emotion was raw in her face, her voice, her demeanor. It pulled people in, made them feel comfortable and at ease. Nedra did begin to feel more at ease as the night wore on, too. I think she just needs some additional time speaking to an audience.
If you get the chance to go and hear her in person or purchase her book, I definitely would do both.
Next week's poet: Harley Elliott
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