On April 3, CF hosted a book signing, reading, and question session with
famous poet, Brian Turner.
famous poet, Brian Turner.
His collections of poems are written about his experience as a soldier in the Iraq
War. These creations are autobiographical and convey what the military felt on
the front lines. Turners’ poetry contains profanity, but not without reason.
“I wanted to show you what it means to fight,” said Turner. “When a man is at
war, he doesn’t have time to make pretty phrases. We only had
two words for talking to each other – ‘‘huh’ and ‘f-word.’‘ The rest depends
on intonation.”
Turner shared his opinion about life after the war.
“I do not know you can live with that actually. I don’t think it would be right for
people like Iraq, because there are lot of loss and pain [sic]. It cannot be easily
forgotten.”
Turner shared how he managed to combine the army‘s past with literature.
“Many poets don’t know the answer to that question, and I’m no exception. Even
if my poems describe the events of war, that’s not what my poems are about.
They are about love and loss. In this way, I shifted my life to different
landscapes.” said Turner.
Turner also shared where he draws inspiration from.
“I think it’s a thing that comes out of the air spontaneously right into your
lungs. Like music, my body is the instrument. It‘s invisible, but we exhale
poetry to make it sound.”
Turner mentioned that he has a lot of unreleased material, and he expressed his
feelings about it.
“I don’t regret leaving these stories lying in my closet because I’m just learning
to write poetry, and there was probably something in these pieces that I wasn’t
happy with,” Turner said. “I guess the poem I’d be proud of hasn’t been
written yet, or it’s the one I’m going to write.”
Turner is also a musician with his own band.
“I was a bass player in the band when I was in college,” Turner reminisced. “I
had no plans to write poetry at all. I have started taking writing classes to write
better lyrics for the band. Well, those classes bring me here to the poetry [sic].”
Regarding his new works, Turner states that he is now excited about his new
projects.
better lyrics for the band. Well, those classes bring me here to the poetry [sic].”
Regarding his new works, Turner states that he is now excited about his new
projects.
“Right now, I’m more excited about my musical projects than my literary ones.
But I keep working on poetry, too. I’m an art person, so it’s all as one thing to
me.”
Students who missed Brian Turner’s visit can stay tuned for future events by
searching cf.edu/events.
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