On Nov. 2, the 25th Chicago Humanities Festival hosted well-renowned New York poet Eileen Myles at the Poetry Foundation. Myles opened with chronicles from poetry new and old, but dedicated much of the time for an extended reading of her forthcoming dog memoir, Afterglow, inspired by her now-late companion Rosie.
As the Chicago Humanities Festival honors many artists and intellectuals in its month long series of events, Myles was featured in conjunction with the Poetry Foundation, "an independent literary organization committed to a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture," according to its website. The Poetry Foundation also releases a monthly magazine that, in the past, has included Myles as a featured author.
Myles' works are known for being queer, funny, feminist and provocative, with Chicago Humanities stating, "Her performances mix stand-up, Zen talk, and the first poetry reading that blew you away." Easily filling a room, Myles engaged the audience as she paused throughout the reading to explain a life event that inspired that particular line or stanza( s ).
"That's one of those one million poems that when I thought, 'I'm writing a beautiful poem and then I put the word 'fucking' in and I thought, I won't go in the New Yorker,'" joked Myles in reference to the poem "And Then the Weather Arrives," from her book I Must be Living Twice.
Myles stated that Afterglow is close to being completed, and should be released in the following year or two. In 2012, she was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship for Afterglow.
Myles is currently teaching at New York University ( NYU ) and abroad in addition to writing poetry, being a journalist and doing other projects. Throughout her writing career, Myles includes queer and feminist themes as well as personal accounts through her own poetic lens. She's not only a writer but an activist, teacher, performer and playwright.
"Every time I hit a Boston 'r,' I think it's okay" when calling on a Boston colleague in the front row, Myles added.