The Brown & White

Award-winning poet Daniel Tobin offered the public a window into his life and work Wednesday as part of the Humanities Center's and Creative Writing Program's year-long program, "New Bethlehem: Urban utopias, Dystopias and Transformations."

Over the course of his hour-long presentation, Tobin read several poems from his book "The Narrows" and discussed the inspiration for each. Tobin also talked about his Irish roots and Brooklyn upbringing, and his view of literature as a form of art.

Tobin, whose family immigrated to the U.S. from Ireland during the Great Depression, focused on immigrant life in America as he discussed his poetry.

"My passion is exploring how history intersects with individual lives," Tobin said.

Tobin said he tries to explore what is not mentioned in America's history books and analyze how history, specifically immigration, has impacted an individual.

"I try to utter what can't be recorded by history," Tobin said. "There is an absence around that which we do record and that [which] must be talked of. We know what that history is like, and it's not pretty, so we have to gather voices."

And, his work does just that. Tobin's poem "The Coat" is a "talisman" of his past, he said.

Tobin's eloquence and intelligence impressed some members of the audience.

"I found him to be extremely well spoken and was amazed by what he said about the absence in history," Christine Tucker, '08, said.

Tobin read a variety of poems that each dealt with a different subject and attempted to bridge the gap between history and the individual from a different perspective. The poems covered topics ranging from life in Brooklyn to 9/11.

"In organizing 'The Narrows,' I tried to make a mural out of poetry so that you can look at the individual panels at the same as the whole sweep," Tobin said.

More than anything else, Tobin's poetry captures the deep history and tradition of his beloved Brooklyn. Tobin read sonnets entitled "Bayridge" and "Stickball," among others. In his work concerning Brooklyn, Tobin tries to offer a taste of his own upbringing and experience while using Brooklyn's long and culturally diverse history as a backdrop.

"I try to capture the history of people coming to the United States from the perspective of my own family," Tobin said.

Emma Lawrence, a Bethlehem resident, said she especially liked Tobin's poetic recounts of Brooklyn.

"I grew up in Coney Island, and his poetry just brings back so many memories. I can see so many people and places. It's amazing. He was wonderful," Lawrence said.

But, some of Tobin's readings involved controversial subjects. One poem, "Deep Shit," discussed sexual assault on the part of a priest.

Tobin said poetry has the ability to transcend time.

"A poem is shaped time," Tobin said. "It makes a shape in time through language, sort of like a prayer."

Tobin received a vigorous round of applause from an audience that seemed to enjoy listening to his work and learning his views on poetry as a whole.

"He was fascinating," Anthony Sigona, '11, said. "I'm not a big fan of poetry but his stuff just brings out so many different emotions and feelings. I think he's really unique in his ability to do that."

Tobin is the recipient of several awards, including the Robert Penn Warren Award and the Robert Frost Fellowship. His work has appeared in many esteemed publications, such as the "New Republic," "The Nation," and the "Harvard Review." He is the chair of the writing, literature and publishing department at Emerson College in Boston.