The tenth event in the Cambridge Reading Series, hosted by the English Faculty, flawlessly juxtaposed two disparate poets in a particularly well-curated reading.  The theme was other people’s voices: London poet Nat Raha began and ended her performance by reading the work of Alice Notley (who, coincidentally, will perform at the next CRS event), whilst Drew Milne played a collage of architectural phrases, read Gertrude Stein, and did a free translation of a poem by Mayakovsky.

Raha’s familiarity with her own poetry was evident in her cadence, a mixture of acceleration and hesitation (mimicked in lines like “placate / delay”). She was an overflow of emotion, and fascinating to observe because of “hir” androgynous mixture of neurosis, sexuality and self-effacement in the face of the poetry. Raha was bashful, and did not demand anything of her audience because “all required is our gaze”, although her poem ‘Recumbent Territorial’ challenged this from an environmental standpoint: “we support only so many masks.” Her final reading of Notley’s ‘Subway’ was the highlight: slower, thoughtful and affecting.

Whereas Raha was malleable, Milne was deeply controlling of his poetry, sitting rigidly at a table under a spotlight. His work depends upon total, unapologetic demand of both form and content, both in print and aloud. He began with a new work about the grammar of architecture, pure geometry in its abstraction, contrasted with the workforce behind it, and our own response to functionalism: “head in hand to face the built environment.” Readings from an earlier work ‘And Then Some’ – which was once called ‘Songs of The Grammar Bot’ – showed how Milne’s interest in grammar evolved from a preoccupation with typesetting and word-processors, particularly those familiar little red and green lines which appear below words. Even the program and flyer reflected the impact of computers on how we process language: that is, with “tense skeletons”.

Though light-hearted, the reading thus addressed major questions in literature: what is the difference between reading someone else’s and one’s own poetry? How does the form of the poem filter its interpretation, and what is the relation between form and content? The Cambridge Reading Series deserves more attention from students: it was an enlightening and thought-provoking event, hardly less relevant because it was not emotionally charged.

To find out about future events, follow the Series here.