Reading alongside writer John Terpstra on Monday, Mar. 9th as a part of the Lorenzo Reading Series, poet Hendrien Kipper shared some of her poetry.
Terpstra and Kipper both have a connection to Holland, as Kipper is originally from the region, and Terpstra’s parents emigrated to Canada from Holland.
Alison Hughes, Director of the Lorenzo Reading Series, explained that not only did the two poets have common ground, but that Hughes herself knew Kipper from when they were both students at UNBSJ.
Reading from her first and only book of poetry, Kipper explained that the main reason the collection is published is because she wrote the poems for her family members, and wrote so many that she figured that she may as well put them into a book.
Writing most of her poems about her Dutch heritage and places that she had visited as a child, Kippers poems are extremely descriptive and paint a clear image in listeners’ minds.
The first work Kipper read was a descriptive poem about the house she grew up in while living in Holland. Details like the pattern of the wallpaper and the condition of the floor kept the audience captivated as the poet read.
Next, Kipper read a poem about laundry. Though it may not seem like a common subject for poetry, Kipper’s use of symbolism and personification made the poem upbeat and left the audience intrigued. The final line of the poem, and the one most enjoyed by the audience, was, “If only they could talk.”
The last poem read by Kipper was titled “Companions,” and was about the relationship that wind and rain have with one another. As the poem progressed, the speaker who is walking alone, ends up being caught in a rainstorm, and with the rain comes the wind. The poem is somewhat gloomy until the end, when the speaker states, “I’m glad that my solitary walk was not so solitary after all.”
The crowd in the Ganong Hall Lecture Theatre greatly enjoyed Kipper and her poems, as her poems were deep and meaningful—the writer herself full of laughter and joy.