Some of the most helpful critiques I’ve ever received on my prose have been from a poet. This particular poet — Lawrence Gregory.
Lawrence has a real ear for voice — that particular vibration of words, sound,emotion and intent–that identifies us as individuals as surely as a fingerprint. According to linguists we can identify a friend’s voice after just four spoken syllables. Readers can distinguish our characters’ voices on the page nearly as well. Listening to our characters’ voices and being true to them brings them to life.
Lawrence helped me recognize the charmingly disparate voices of Chas, Ramie, and LaRoux, the three runaway teens in my 2013 novel, Looking for Redfeather. It was Lawrence who encouraged me to give the kids the reins and let them tell their own story in their own unique voices.
A good poet is a master of voice and a good poem read aloud is a song, a shared dream.
If your spring road trip is leading you into Northern New Mexico, Lawrence Gregory will be reading at SOMOS Salon & Bookshop in Taos on Thursday, May 2, 2019 from 07:00 pm to 08:30 pm. He’ll be reading from Stretching Silver Through Blue Haze, as well as new poems from his work in progress. There’s no charge for the event. You can read more about the poet’s work and life on his website