Evening of poetry welcomes local talents to Beit Kulanu
'I know that my eyes have been opened from listening to wonderful poets'
An auditory experience was elevated by words and setting. On Oct. 26, four poets approached a lectern inside Beit Kulanu’s Cohen Chapel and shared pieces detailing loss, spirituality, dinosaurs and time.
The program, titled, “An evening of poetry: Judith Dorian and friends,” showcased local talent, featuring both published work and nascent ideas.
Dorian, an Oakland resident and poet, told the Chronicle she conceived of the annual event several years ago and has enjoyed its evolution.
“The first reading was a little different because I was the only reader, and we had music,” the Beit Kulanu member said.
Among the trio of performers at the time was a clarinetist, vocalist and Dorian on keys.
Despite a lovely gathering, the pianist, who holds a doctorate in musicology from the University of Pittsburgh and previously wrote the program notes for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, decided she no longer wanted the stress of playing piano and reading poetry at the same function.
Dorian worked with Mayda Roth, director of development at Beit Kulanu, to retool the program.
“From that grew lots of cultural activities,” Dorian said.
With local poets Valerie Bachrach, Dora Odarenko and Arlene Weiner in attendance on Oct. 26, Roth praised Dorian for assembling the group and said, “There’s a love in the community for intellectual readings, and music, art, and of course poetry.”
“I know that my eyes have been opened from listening to wonderful poets,” Roth added.
Weiner, whose work has been read by Garrison Keillor on “The Writer’s Almanac” and published by Ragged Sky Press, opened her reading by acknowledging that the next day would mark eight years since the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting.
After reading “Tree of Life,” the Dor Hadash member recited poems describing the season, her husband and birds.
Odarenko, who formerly taught composition at Columbia University, Skidmore College, Sarah Lawrence College and the University of Bridgeport, read several works, including “Poltava, Ukraine, 1919,” a poem authored in the voice of her father.
Bacharach, a member of Carlow University’s Madwomen in the Attic poetry workshops and whose work was published by Broadstone Books, read pieces about family, friends, nature and grief.
She shared an unpublished work about the Shekhina, a mystical presence of God often taken to represent feminine aspects of the divine.
Dorian closed the program by reading a poem about Ukraine, titled, “Third Day March,” and one titled, “Nine Eleven.”
Peering out from the lectern within the wood-paneled chapel, Dorian commented, “I’m of course not alone in being troubled by the state of the world — whether it’s the climate … everything — even chocolate doesn’t help.”
The Oakland resident asked attendees to “indulge” her and allow her to read a self-described “nonsense” poem, because “nonsense is the only thing that feels good.”
Dorian then read a work about encountering a dinosaur.
Following the program, she said she looks forward to the annual get-together as it “gives me a chance to perform and to get a little closer to the other poets.”
Gathering inside Beit Kulanu bolsters the program’s significance, she continued. “It feels very good. It feels responsible too. Not because of my writing, but somehow it feels like it’s on another level, just by the surroundings.”
Dorian said she hopes the annual event continues to evolve and garner interest.
Waiting a year, however, isn’t necessary to glean the benefits of local talent.
Readers should “develop their own creativity and write, and read to their children,” she said. “Read out loud, not just on a phone — because it’s the sound. That’s the music in poetry.” PJC
Adam Reinherz can be reached at areinherz@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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