Most poets write for the page. Denver poet Seth Harris writes for the stage.
“I think most poets start out as closet poets,” he said. “I wrote poetry for years without sharing it. I didn’t even think of it as poetry. But after several years of jotting things down in a notebook, I decided to start reading it at open mics.”
At his first public reading at Muddy’s Java Cafe in 1988, he met a local poet and musician named Woody Hildebrand who introduced him to actor, poet and musician Tupper Cullum. As it happened, all three were interested in exploring non-traditional ways of presenting their poetry. Together, they formed a performance troupe called Poets of the Open Range.
“We called ourselves the Open Rangers because we were open to all ways of presenting poetry,” Harris said. “We were also open to whoever wanted to participate. It wouldn’t be just us. We brought in musicians, poets, dancers. The whole idea was to make poetry entertaining.”
Harris grew up in Huntington, N.Y., and studied English and liberal arts at Indiana University near Pittsburgh. His senior year he served as editor in chief of the school newspaper, for which he wrote a popular weekly satirical column.
“I left college interested in writing novels,” he said. “But then a whole evolutionary process took place.”
While visiting friends in Denver, he managed to land a couple of jobs writing public relations for ArtReach and Eden Theatrical Workshop.
“I learned from these two jobs that every genre of writing can teach you something about the art of using language,” he said. “But what attracted me to poetry was that it allowed me to break the rules of syntax and grammar. By breaking the rules, I learned more about why the rules were there. By writing poetry, I developed more dexterity in my use of language.”
As a writer in residence for Denver Public Schools, Harris teaches his students the creative side of rule breaking.
“I show them how they can break the rules of grammar and syntax and come up saying some amazing things,” he said.
At 61, Harris has returned to his first love, narrative fiction.
“I believe the role of the writer is to be a journalist, no matter what kind of writing you choose to do,” he said. “You look at the world and strive to understand it as honestly and accurately as you can, and then reflect that in everything you write.”
Seth Harris hosts “Jam Before the Slam” every Sunday evening at the Mercury Cafe along with his musical improv group “Art Compost and the Word Mechanics.”
Don Morreale is a regular YourHub contributor.
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