“Poetry is like long distance running, I’m in it for the long haul…”
by Ashley Albertz
A simple elegance walked into the Writer’s Studio at Butler University on March 29, 2012. This room has seen many writers, poets, and novelists as the Visiting Writer’s Series gives many students an opportunity to have a question and answer session with someone truly remarkable. Other writers have sat in the stool, been given the microphone, drank the coffee but when Linda Gregg walked into the studio it was different from all of the others.
She came in with such an ageless beauty, a presence that felt like we were talking to an old-Hollywood actress. She had such a strong stage-presence. From the moment she spoke, the audience could tell she had such class and elegance. A strong sense of tenderness and feminine qualities graced every answer she gave. It was as if it was she were talking one-on-one with each of us. Each student was given a reason to feel important and a personal connection. She was so enthusiastic about each question.
“I don’t wear a lot of color because I don’t want to pay attention to myself. I want to see the world,” she said. She just gave such a moving impression. She wants to focus on nature, beauty, and the writing. She is willing to work at it every day. She opens up to the writing, letting herself feel. The mind is used to think, and her heart to feel what belongs. “I would like to be a great poet, and I am willing to fail at it,” Gregg says as she explains that not everything written is going to be picture perfect. The world does not need to see everything that is written.
I am a business major, not a writer. I usually shudder at the thought of reading a book of poetry. If I am given numbers to crunch I have the same expression that a poet does when reading a book of poems. Having said that, after leaving the question and answer I felt a connection with writing and poetry. The seventy-five minutes flew by. The respect she has for the craft emanated to the entire audience. With her organic poetry and her ageless grace, Linda Gregg stunned me.
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