It's a strange and alienating experience to live in a foreign country, even if you speak the language. The more you use the local language, the more it permeates your brain and being, growing ever more familiar. Meanwhile your native tongue becomes something like the relative you only see on the holidays, a familiar face you recognize but don't really consider family. Jennifer Kronovet lived in China for a stretch and noticed her relationship with English was becoming more exotic. For a poet, rediscovering the nooks and crannies of your own language is a gift; Kronovet took that gift and transformed it into her first collection, Awayward. Kronovet reads from Awayward tonight at 7 p.m. at Left Bank Books' Central West End location (399 North Euclid Avenue; 314-367-6731 or www.left-bank.com). Also reading is her friend and fellow poet, Jessica Baran, who reviews art for the RFT. If you've noticed a certain tendency to the poetic and metaphorical in Baran's reviews, tonight you can hear her give full voice to those callings. Admission is free, and copies of both women's books will be available for purchase.
Tue., April 16, 2013