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18 comments:
Peter
Standing in front of the classroom stood the poet by the name of DeWitt Brinson. A pale man with medium red hair he carried himself well. He was a poet and wrote material that at first glance seemed like something that came out of a T.S. Elliot book, not from a guy who wore normal clothes, cordory pants, and worn out pumas. But you can't always judge a book by it's cover.
His poetry provide imagry that seems as if the ordinary mind could not comprehend let alone come up with.
"There's no way to come about writing material like this," he explains. "I look at things, study things, or have little phrases or words come to mind and I go form there."
While that may seem difficult to some, he continues to explain that most of the material written may not end up in the final work.
"You revise for the first time, and you realise that it's bad. Then you just revise, revise, revise."
He has had experience though. He has had material published in small literary journals. In Willmengton, South Carolina, he started a weekly journal that had 12 to 15 writers working for it.
"It was difficult doing that, in trying to get some of the writers motivated to write and edit," he said.
Poetry is a hobby to him. DeWitt's goal in life is start a publishing company and is in graduate school to see it through. But writing poetry will always be with him.
"Always write," he said with a quick laugh
Emily Julian
DeWitt Brinson
As he stood up in front of the classroom, the first thing that I noticed about him happened to be his clothing. He had on a brown graphic tee that fit loosely on his medium-sized built body. His pin-stripped pants didn’t match well, but nonetheless his brown Pumas made up for them. I have to give him some credit; at least he matched well with his shirt and shoes. He came off as a really laid back kind of guy, one that doesn’t let a lot get to him.
His name was DeWitt. DeWitt Brinson to be exact. To break the ice, Mr. Brinson read one of his poems titled “Merry Round” aloud to the class. He enjoys reading his poems out loud. I could hear a sense of passion in his voice. Right off the bat, I could tell he loves what he does. There lies deep meaning in his poems.
He began answering questions. I asked, “How do you choose what to write about?” I followed up by asking the question, “Are your poems about things that have happened over time?” Mr. Brinson responded, “Kind of. Sometimes I get a line or a phrase stuck in my head. The easiest way to write a poem is by sitting down and just writing. Jot down some thoughts.”
As far as revising his poems goes, Mr. Brinson does all of the revising in his head. “Writing down all different revisions takes up too much time. I have plenty of other things to do in a day besides revising,” he said. “As I’m revising, I rip apart my poems. Sometimes I come across things I like (words/phrases). The words can show you something inside of them.” Many times, Mr. Brinson works poems through his head before writing anything down.
Inspiration happens to be a hard topic to discuss. He can only go to one place to get inspiration. That would be from a hideous, old man that lives in a green house on Third Street. Just knock and he will give you ideas on what to write about.
“Have you ever had anything published?” He responded, “Not anywhere big. I used to have a weekly journal (paper) in North Carolina.” His writings would be posted in small journals. The paper consisted of articles. The main thing he wrote-an advice column. He would revise others work.
“In order to write, I have to have quiet. No music. No noise. I need to be inside my head when writing,” he said. DeWitt Brinson’s papers focus mainly on humor. In the future, he would like to start up a publishing company.
As the average sized man stood in front the classroom, introducing himself as DeWitt Brinson, I immediately knew he would be a funny guy with a great personality. DeWitt, with his laid back style, wore corduroy pants, a t-shirt, and worn-out tennis shoes. He explained that he loved poetry, and then continued on to read one of his own poems. His writing style directly reflected his own personal style. You could tell from the moment he began speaking that he loved writing. The passion in his voice shows he cares a lot about what he does.
DeWitt explained that the easiest way to write well is to “figure out what you like, and write about it.” Sometimes you can go looking for inspiration, but the best ideas “just hit you,” DeWitt says. He told the class that he likes all poetry, but his favorite type is modern poetry. This is why he enjoys writing with a modern style. Many times DeWitt begins thinking about what he is going to write in his head though out the day before he even gets a chance to sit down and write. Once he goes to write down his thoughts, things just come so easily.
DeWitt began writing poetry in grade school, but stopped after a few years. In high school he started up again writing for girls. When he looks back now at these love poems, it is apparent that his writing has definitely improved throughout the years. He said that those first few poems he wrote were “too long and too rhymie.” Once he began writing for himself again his skills got better. He explained that his best poems have been about his family, and he dose not enjoy writing political poems much at all. Each new poem he writes, has made him the poet he is today.
Khalil Hamed
DeWitt Brinson
I walked back into the classroom after observing the Exquisite Corpse office and saw DeWitt Brinson answering questions for the students that were still in the classroom. I sat down and saw he had been wearing a brown t-shirt and brown Pumas. His brownish hair stood still not styled or fixed in any way. He seems as though he has a laid-back personality just by looking at him. At first glance I never would have thought that he would be a poet.
When everyone got seated in the room he read his poem “Reflection in a Metal Coffin”. The emphasis he put into reading his own poem showed that he took pride into his own work and loved poetry. Having DeWitt read his own poem helped in the understanding of the poem, because you could then get the personality of the writer. When he finished reading the poem, he started to take questions. Of course, the first question that came up asked “What is your inspiration?” He answered by saying, “I don’t really have any inspiration. I think my best work occurs when I write of stories that actually happened to me. I usually write out the poem in my head before I actually sit down and write. I write mostly modern type poetry, so I guess that somewhat influences me.” I had been very curious if he had always been interested in poetry when he was younger so I eagerly raised my hand. I got the surprising answer of yes. He replied, “I enjoyed poetry in grade school but like poetry even more now. Writing because you are told to is not the same as writing because you want to. Now I write for a purpose.”
Kirsten McDowell
DeWitt Brinson
DeWitt casually sat in a desk on the front row of the class room. He went unnoticed until attention was brought to him by Tyler. His informal dress made him seem approachable. DeWitt wore a loose fitting graphic t-shirt, jeans, and a goofy smile, which easily characterized him. He smiles and when looking closely a person may notice his grin slightly favors one side of his mouth. As DeWitt casually stood in the front of the room, reading his poem, “Reflection in a Metal Coffin,” I found my mind flooded with questions to ask him. How did you get started? Which poet do you enjoy the most? How many poems have you written? Do you prefer classical poetry or modern poetry?
After finishing his poem, the class bombarded DeWitt with questions, all of which he answered with pleasure. He bestowed wonderful advice to any beginning poets in the class. We should read poetry, find poetry we like, and write about modern things, things happening today. “Read more, write more.” He made the process sound so easy. “Always read good poetry.
DeWitt originally began writing in grade school. Forced to write for school, he found himself enjoying writing poetry. He stopped writing for awhile. Then in high school DeWitt discovered a wonderful use for poetry, girls. However, this did not satisfy him and did not last long. DeWitt started to like writing poetry for a different reason. Poetry shouldn’t be written for other people, “write it for yourself,” he explained.
When asked if he preferred classic poetry or modern he responded, “I’m in love with a lot of classic poets like Blake and Keats. I read old poetry and I can’t believe it was not written today.” However, DeWitt does prefer modern poetry to classic. He finds poetry written today easier to connect with.
Most of the greatest speeches use clips from poetry, because they affect us. “Good poetry should affect us. It should do something to us,” he stated.
Ngoc Huynh
Fascinated by Mike's light up base ball cap, DeWitt Brinson seemed like a cool guy. One may never expect him to be a poet though. His chocolate brown hair parted to the side, sincere hazel eyes, thick eyebrows, slight mustache, pinkish skin tone, orange trimmed brown shirt with designs in the middle, grey pants, and worn down pumas, made him seem like a very laid back guy.
He read one of his poems, "Reflection in a Metal Coffin" in a slow, deep, tone of voice, almost to the point where you feel what he's feeling. The only advice that he would give to young aspiring poets is to read and write more poetry. "It's simple, but true, you know it's the only way." he explained. He explained that beginning poets may imitate their favorite poets at first, and that you will eventually find your own vibe.
"Where do you get your inspiration from?" a student asked. "It's never a PLACE where inspiration comes from." He explained that there is a ship in Los Angelas , the S.S. Mercury, where this man gives you the best ideas. He added that sometimes inspiration finds him and sometimes he goes out looking for inspiration. For example, in "Reflection in a Metal Coffin", obviously, his uncle inspired him. However, he added that poetry is a mindset. "Poems should be doing something to us". "You should..should make writing more active by getting into YOUR vibe."
Although DeWitt is a fan of all types of poetry, he admitts that he prefers and leans towards more modern poetry. Not a big fan of political poetry, he realizes that some of his best poems are about his family. DeWitt has loved poetry since he was in grade school. "The first poem I ever read and loved was by Shell Silverstein (former writer for Playboy)". Throughout highschool, he was not into writing too much, besides the corny poems he wrote for girls, he admitted jokingly. Throughout college, he began realizing that you have to write for yourself personally.
He concluded the interview with a hilarious Russian-dracula impression of Andrai, the head of Exquisite Corps.
As I walked back into the classroom from leaving the Exquisite Corpse office, I saw DeWitt Brinson. He was of medium height. What really caught me was his clothing. The brown t-shirt sporting medusa on the front, the brown puma added on to the ensemble making me to believe he just liked the color brown.
He seemed to be a generally happy person. Due to the fact that he laughed a lot and used sarcasm out the ass. He then began reading his poem. I noticed he liked to lengthen and stress the final word of each sentence. His eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head. After reading the poem he began to answer questions.
He did not get inspiration from any specific place, he seemed to have ideas in a spontanious manner. He also told us that he preferred the new style of poets to the old style.
DeWitt, laughing like he normally would, began to talk about his past in writing and how what he used to think was really good turned out to be really bad writing. Also, he said started talking about how cheesy his love poems to girls were. That's when Micheal made the joke about just saving it and using it on the next girl.
The class bursted out laughing. After we settled we were treated to an impersonation of the head writer for the Exquisite Corpse. His transylvanian like accent was dead on as he did a shrug like manner. Everyone was almost on the floor laughing. After DeWitt was done with his impersonations Tyler walked came in and dismissed the class.
Hannah Cavalier
When DeWitt Brinson entered the room wearing his maroon Medusa shirt and gray pants, he looked like an ordinary guy, tall, brown hair, and blue eyes. He grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina, which is where he started writing poetry. Dewitt enjoyed writing, but did not think much of it. He attended a career day at UNCW and sat in on a speech about the creative writing field. He decided after hearing this speech that this is what he wanted to do.
He moved down to Louisiana about a year ago and now has a job at LSU. He decided to come to Louisiana because his friend asked him to apply for a job down here plus there is a good stipend for writers.
Dewitt says, “There isn’t a clear cut inspiration.” He gets his inspiration from many places. He gets words or phases stuck in his head and that can become the inspiration for a poem. He can also be researching something on the Internet and get inspiration from that. Dewitt says there is the greenhouse guy who gives people inspiration.
DeWitt has to be secluded in a quite place with no noise or music playing to write his poetry. He begins by working the poems out in his head before writing them down on paper. Even after writing them he changes things around many times and cuts parts out before he gets it right.
Mike Hayden
Dewitt Brinson
A man stood in front of the class that I had only seen once in my life before and that was 20 minutes before when we had left the classroom to go look at his office. For an ice breaker, and for those who didn’t do the homework assignment of reading his poem, he read his poem to us. “Reflection in a Metal Coffin” this was something new, the poem sounded deep and dark. As he read it I started to understand the title much more. His uncle had died and they were reflecting him in the coffin. After someone popped out the question, “Where do you get the inspiration From?” He told us that like the poem he had just read he received a lot of inspiration from his family. He found he could turn them into poetry pretty easily.
His personality gave off that radiantly nice trait and his information turned out very informative. When questions arose he always did his best to answer them as best as he could and leave everyone more understanding. Someone threw the question out there, “What is your advice for upcoming poets?” He thought for a second and responded, “Read lots of poetry. Read a bunch of good poets; especially modern poets to. Also write, write all you can it helps a lot.”
Before I knew it class came to an end and it was time for us to leave. As I packed up I realized that I hadn’t really paid attention to what this poet looked like I had focused on his information t much. When I got a good glance of him I actually took a double take. He looked completely normal. Clothed with a t-shirt, some striped pants, an old beat up pair of pumas, and smile brightening his face. And when I thought about it I remembered him laughing a lot in his presentation. I think he truly loves poetry and loves sharing it with others.
Bianca Day
Tyler Smith
English 1001
DeWitt Brinson
A North Carolina native, DeWitt Brinson, a poet who attends LSU’s school for creative writing stood before the class, ready to read his poem. The brown hair brown eyed grad student, read his “Merry Round” with distinction and emphasis. When he concluded his poem, he paused and asked if anyone had questions about the content. No one had questions about the poem but mainly about DeWitt.
He proceeded to tell the class about himself. He revealed to us that he enjoys reciting his poetry aloud to the audience at coffee shops. Not all his writing consists of poetry, he also writes humorous articles/ journals. When in North Carolina, he kept up a weekly published journal for the college.
His ideas and thoughts do not come from a pinpoint idea. When DeWitt’s thoughts run over and over in his mind, he may write about it. Also, when searching the net he may find something interesting to write about. DeWitt says to,"Always Write". He has realized that music clouds his train of thought, he would rather work in a calm and quiet environment. Even though he wrote poetry, he did not know what career he wanted to pursue later in life.
While attending North Carolina his friend, Kristen Foster, from LSU told him to apply to the writing program at LSU. He then transferred to LSU from North Carolina.
He now is the assistant in the Exquisite Corpse office, but still unsure on what to do with his career in life. Even though being a poet does not bring a consistent income, he does want to pursue a creative writing field, such as, opening his own publishing company.
sorry, had to delete my prior one because i had the word it in it.
Ben
As he approached the room with that calm demeanor, and the laid back walk, I felt eager to meet him. Wearing a brown shirt, khaki pants, and some puma shoes, he looked like any ordinary guy. As he spoke to us, he showed passion in his poems and his work. He resided from North Carolina, and came to LSU because of his friend that recommended him here. He told us he liked the change of weather, and that Louisiana contrasted from North Carolina. With the most obvious question, what inspires you? He told us many things, and that not one certain thing inspired him. He had that humor about him, and a welcoming personality that you would not expect from most poets. He told us about his past, and how he used to write to pick up chicks, but now he writes for a hobby.
He told us that he constantly liked ripping apart of his poems until he felt that the poem sounded right, and that what every poet should do. As his blue eyes glanced across the classroom eager for questions, he responded with straight confidence. When asked what do you plan to do anything besides reciting poems. He responded that he would love to open a publishing company, and from that, I knew he loved English. In North Carolina, he wrote mainly humor, and had his own advice column for other inspiring poets. When I asked him where he liked to perform, he told us anywhere and that unlike other poets, he likes expressing his poems vocally instead of just writing it on paper. As we left he told us “the more you write, the worse you realize you are,” this never held so true for me!
Claire Dore
DeWitt Brinson
DeWitt Brinson the poet stood at the front of the classroom eager to answer our questions. He was wearing a brown graphic tee with brown pumas and grey stripped pants that didn't match well. His dark hair, unshaven face, and soothig voice gave me the feel of a typical poet.
"How do you get your ideas? Do they come to you over time? What is your main inspiration?" DeWitt was asked. He thought for a moment and replied saying that it is not in just one way. Sometimes it can be through researching or he will get a phrase or word in stuck in his head and he just works from there. He also mentioned that he works poems out in his head before putting them down on paper, "It is kind of a time savor" mention Brinson.
"Are any of your poems published?" I asked. "Yes, in some small journals and in weekly papers. I actually had my own weekly paper in Wilmington, North Carolina" he responded. Next he was asked what specific places he writes in and he said he needed quiet places. Mostly he tries to write in his head, but when he is working at the computer he needs it to be quiet.
"What made you want to start writting poems?" someone asked. "One of my elementary teachers had me write a poem once, and then when I got to high school I did it more often. Although, it was mostly to get girls in high school. But once I realized I liked it I knew thats what I wanted to do. So it was mostly a mix of things" DeWitt said.
Dewitt has worked for many publishing companies and his dream is to one day open his own publishing company.
Kayla
DeWitt Brinson
Sitting in my desk waiting for class to start, an unfamiliar face walked into the class room. At first I thought it was a student who was lost and just entered the wrong class room, but suddenly Tyler introduced him to the class as DeWitt Brinson. Standing around 5’7 this pale young man with pasty brown hair and crystal blue eyes, stood himself in front the class where he began answering questions. His voice was very low and nasally and he had a very awkward laugh to him.
DeWitt was a poet who began writing around the third grade. When asked what his inspiration was for becoming a poet he responded, “I’ve always had to write in school and I really started to enjoy doing it. I also wrote a lot to pick up chicks! This is what got me interested in writing.”DeWitt likes to think of himself as a different type of poet, unlike most poets that write all their ideas down on paper and them critique them. DeWitt says he goes over the poem hundreds of times in his head before he ever writes it down on paper. To me I thought that was pretty impressive!
“Have any of your poems ever been published?” a girl in the class asked. “Yes, a few have been published in small journals and newspapers, but nowhere big. I also had my own weekly journal when I lived back in North Carolina,” he said. DeWitt also mentioned that when writing he has to been in complete silence and there can be no noise or music on around him.
The final question to DeWitt was the famous why LSU question. Dewitt laughed and answered “LSU has a great stipend for writers, and one of my friends asked me to apply here. I applied here and things just seemed to work out.”
kayla
The Exquisite Corpse
Walking down the noisy hallway full of students waiting to go into class, we stood in front of a wooden door marked number 26. This wooden door contained three old and torn stickers on it, but one caught my attention. “Censorship, don’t let others choose what you read.”
As Tyler opened the door we all cautiously walked in. The first thing that hit me was the old musty smell that filled the inside of the room; it reminded me of an old library. The Exquisite Corpse was your typical office, desks, computers, book shelves and two fill cabinets filled the room and an old yellow flowery sofa sat in front the book case. The book shelves contained thousands of copies of printed journals, some looking old and some being new. The older journals were sitting on top of cardboard so that they wouldn’t flop over the edge of the shelf. One book case was very organized by the dates they were issued, while the other was in no particular order.
While it looked like your typical office it was filled with very random objects. Unframed, old pictures hung on the purplish brown walls. While a copy of the world map hung upside down. You start to think that the person who works inside here is somewhat weird as multiple skulls hang around the room.
The Exquisite Corpse room is somewhere I would not want to work at on late nights. I had this weird feeling inside of me while in there as if I was nervous or scared to be inside!
When class began, no one really noticed that DeWitt was already in the room with us. He blended in with all of the students, sitting in our desks. The only thing that gave him away was that he was a few years older than us freshmen. When we began asking him questions, he seemed excited to be where he was, like he enjoyed receiving attention. He wasn’t at all shy and didn’t mind reading aloud one of his poems entitled “Merry Round”. Afterwards, he tried answering as many questions as he possibly could in the time he had, explaining that he was from North Carolina, and had only been at LSU for a little more than a year. When asked where his inspiration came from he told us “there isn’t just one way I get inspired to write”. He told us researching for other projects gives him ideas, aswell as a guy who works in a greenhouse. I wanted to know more about the inspiring greenhouse worker, but before I could ask about him DeWitt was already telling us more about how he became a writer. He started out writing for fun in elementary and progressing to cheesy poems to get girls in high school. Towards the end of the “Q and A” session, he began to crack a few jokes in his responses. Overall he seemed like a fairly normal guy with a gift for writing, and a love for humor.
i wasnt there for class to interview Dewitt Brinson and i didnt get to interview Dr. Allison yet. i just shadowed him. sorry!
Everyone sat quietly in their seats, waiting to be impressed with DeWitt Brinson’s poetry. As DeWitt was reading his poetry, I analyzed him from head to two. He is a average height man, who has short brown hair, fairly pale skin. He was wearing a image of Medusa on t-shirt, and not to stylish jeans. His worn down Puma’s gave me the idea that he does not keep up with his appearance too much.
His tone of voice was very dull and monotone as he was reading his poetry. His poetry confused me when he had compared two very different things together. For example in one of his poems, Merry Round, he wrote a line that said, “And on the tv they danced like an outside thought like the teeth in tress, like senseless sharks.” Not giving me a good explanation of why he wrote like that, I asked him what gives him inspiration.
He answered my question by saying, “When I do research, or just by walking around and seeing something that will be interesting to write about.” He continues to talk about this man who lives on 3rd Street in Baton Rouge who gives poets ideas on what to write about. I asked him if he has ever gone to him for help and he said with no hesitation, “Oh course I do. All the time!”
Talking about his success as a journalist and a poet, he said that he had published a couple of his writings in his very own weekly paper in North Caroline where he used to live before he came to Louisiana a year and a half ago.
He eventually wants to start his own publishing company where he can publish all of his humorous poetry that he wants.
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