Event Review: Ross Gay & Aimee Nezhukumatathil Reading

On Saturday, June 24, 2023, I had the pleasure of attending a Zoom livestream of the Evening Reading Series at the Minnesota Northwoods Writers Conference. The highly skilled poets and essayists, Ross Gay and Aimee Nezhukumatathil, who are coincidentally best friends and co-authors of Lace & Pyrite, came together to read their work and fill the room (and my laptop screen) with their infectious exuberance.

Ross Gay, author of four books of poetry and two essay collections, began the reading with essays from his new collection coming out this September, The Book of (More) Delights (yes, a follow-up to his 2019 hit, The Book of Delights). Gay’s manipulation of diction and tone to show appreciation for the small joys of daily life without diminishing the harsh realities, was as evident in his new work as in his previous collections. He spoke about the endearing nature of “Braces on Adults,” in an essay where he admires the fragility of teeth and his mother’s role as the hero who saved him when he fell and bit right through his own lip as a child. In a more serious essay, “Angels, All,” Gay tells the heartwarming account of meeting a man recently released from a psych ward for attempted suicide, whom he gave a ride and set up in a Hampton Inn for a few days until the homeless shelter was available. I found myself tearing up at the kindness shown to this stranger by Gay. He closed his reading with the lighter, but nonetheless impactful essay, “Paper Menus and Cash,” in which he vehemently rejects the use of the QR code menu while dining at a vegetarian restaurant with his friend. Gay admirably takes his frustration about QR codes and the declining use of cash, to create a poignant statement about the close relationship between refusal and joy: “One of joy’s primary expressions is refusal.”

 Aimee Nezhukumatathil, also the author of four poetry collections as well as one book of essays, read a mixture of her work with a palpable sense of enthusiasm and child-like curiosity for the world. She began with the selected poems “Bodies in the Air,” “First Time Brushing Teeth with You,” and a poem from 2009, “The Mascot of Beavercreek High Breaks Her Silence,” during which she giggled about her time as the first female mascot while in high school. Nezhukumatathil debuted “The Gyro,” an essay from her forthcoming collection of food essays, Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees. In the essay, she uses vivid sensory details to explain her connection to gyros; how on Fridays when her father got paid, he would treat them, and how now as a mother herself she enjoys gyros with her children. She closed the reading with “Superb Bird of Paradise” from her New York Times best-seller, World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments. The evening’s lighthearted celebration of joy and connection shined through as Nezhukumatathil played “Macarena” by Los Del Río and asked the audience, “When is the last time you danced like a superb bird of paradise?”

 After their readings, Gay and Nezhukumatathil poked fun at one another, the way only close friends know how, and answered a few questions from the audience. Both poets have found that writing so many essays has provided ease to their poetry writing. Gay noted that longer poems have become less daunting and that there are more possibilities for the endings of his poems when he finds himself stuck. Nezhukumatathil said that it is simply less frustrating to deal with difficult poems because if they are not working, she knows there is another form available to her. As simple as it sounds, I think that concept is a good reminder for us writers when we’re struggling to make a piece work — there is always another form, another home for the idea. The two also highlighted the role of letter writing in their friendship and their writing process. Gay said that letter writing is powerful in its display of “thinking made evident.” Aimee Nezhukumatathil and Ross Gay ended the evening with an emphasis on being the champion of your own writing. I found myself smiling while Nezhukumatathil added what could encapsulate the joyful experience of hearing these brilliant writers share their work: “Sharing what you love is contagious.”