“To reveal art and conceal the artist is art’s aim.” So wrote Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde in his preface to The Picture Of Dorian Grey.
I once had an opportunity to share my poetry anonymously in a college creative writing class. Our instructor, who had allowed me this little experiment during the majority of that semester, was awesome.
He would read us wonderful, published poetry which we would discuss afterward. Now and then one of our own poems would be introduced, read aloud, and the class would discuss it, also.
I was positively brilliant! My poems were appraised with unobstructed honesty and candor. I got to hear what they actually thought of my pieces. Their feedback was the best I’ve ever experienced.
However, after several months of me hiding in plain sight, our instructor approached me to say, “You know, this isn’t exactly fair. How about we let them know who wrote those unidentified poems?”
With some reluctance I agreed. After all, this had been a virtual trove of gold for me, but I did see his point.
During our next class session we discussed the anonymous poems that had been shared, and then our instructor suddenly piped up with, “How about we hear from the poet who wrote those pieces.”
Heads began spinning about scanning the room in utter confusion. There was no one new in the room, and certainly not a published poet. I hesitated ever so briefly before I said,”That was my work.”
The shock which reverberated in that classroom was palpable, and I felt a bit embarrassed, but I was also very grateful for the experience. After all, how often does one get to hide behind ones own art?
By the way … my second E-book, Echoes ll, More Neo-Victorian Poetry, is once again FREE for download … today (9/19/2020)!!! Click here to get it!
I once had an opportunity to share my poetry anonymously in a college creative writing class. Our instructor, who had allowed me this little experiment during the majority of that semester, was awesome.
He would read us wonderful, published poetry which we would discuss afterward. Now and then one of our own poems would be introduced, read aloud, and the class would discuss it, also.
I was positively brilliant! My poems were appraised with unobstructed honesty and candor. I got to hear what they actually thought of my pieces. Their feedback was the best I’ve ever experienced.
However, after several months of me hiding in plain sight, our instructor approached me to say, “You know, this isn’t exactly fair. How about we let them know who wrote those unidentified poems?”
With some reluctance I agreed. After all, this had been a virtual trove of gold for me, but I did see his point.
During our next class session we discussed the anonymous poems that had been shared, and then our instructor suddenly piped up with, “How about we hear from the poet who wrote those pieces.”
Heads began spinning about scanning the room in utter confusion. There was no one new in the room, and certainly not a published poet. I hesitated ever so briefly before I said,”That was my work.”
The shock which reverberated in that classroom was palpable, and I felt a bit embarrassed, but I was also very grateful for the experience. After all, how often does one get to hide behind ones own art?
By the way … my second E-book, Echoes ll, More Neo-Victorian Poetry, is once again FREE for download … today (9/19/2020)!!! Click here to get it!
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