Cleopatra Mathis Poetry Reading

This morning, Southern-born poet and teacher Cleopatra Mathis read selections from her work in the Student Success Center at the GPC Decatur campus.

The primary theme of Mathis' reading dealt with how one reckons with dismal circumstances to eventually arrive at renewal. One of the ways that Mathis, whose maternal lineage is Greek, evoked this theme was through reference to the Persephone (Kore) and Demeter archetypes.

During the Q&A session, Mathis commented that the poems contained in What to Tip the Boatman? essentially constitute "a mother's story" dealing as it does the poet reflecting on her crossing the gulf of grief and her role as parent of a "troubled and gifted daughter" (from back matter of the book).

When asked during this session about her greatest literary influences, Mathis did not name a specific author but cited her experience as a high school English teacher as a catalyst toward her engagement with poetry. She remembered that as she prepped for her classes she wrote notes on the selections she planned to share with students. Over time, these notes organically took on poetic shape. She also spoke about how growing up working class and Greek during segregation in northern Louisiana shaped her artistic sensibility.

Mathis' work has appeared in numerous journals including The New Yorker, The Georgia Review and Southern Review and a host of anthologies. Her books include Arial View of Lousiana, What to Tip the Boatman? and White Sea. Since 1982, she has taught at Dartmouth College where she currently directs the creative writing program.