Tom Slayton of Vermont Public Radio talked about Vermont poet laureate and Four Way Books poet Sydney Lea as a writer, a reader and a man.
"The best Vermont poetry speaks with a characteristic voice that is clear, crisp, and as invigorating as a sunny April morning. Sometimes lyrical, sometimes plain, it bridges many individual styles, but can be heard in poets as different as Robert Frost, Galway Kinnell, Ruth Stone and David Budbill.
Most recently, that open, direct voice can be heard in the work of the current Vermont Poet Laureate, Sydney Lea of Newbury, who gave a reading at the State House earlier this month, to open Montpelier's celebration of National Poetry Month.
Lea's poetry is almost conversational in tone, and very accessible: you don't have to struggle or ponder to get the meaning of his words. But that directness can be misleading, because his poems are also very subtle, often slyly humorous, and, sometimes surprising. They work on more than just their explicit, surface level of meaning. Like any good Vermonter, Lea is adept at saying things without saying them, so his poems resonate in your mind long after you've heard them or read them."
Most recently, that open, direct voice can be heard in the work of the current Vermont Poet Laureate, Sydney Lea of Newbury, who gave a reading at the State House earlier this month, to open Montpelier's celebration of National Poetry Month.
Lea's poetry is almost conversational in tone, and very accessible: you don't have to struggle or ponder to get the meaning of his words. But that directness can be misleading, because his poems are also very subtle, often slyly humorous, and, sometimes surprising. They work on more than just their explicit, surface level of meaning. Like any good Vermonter, Lea is adept at saying things without saying them, so his poems resonate in your mind long after you've heard them or read them."
