Western Oregon Journal

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Being that April is poetry month, it seems fitting to feature a Western poetry professor, and who better than the winner of the 2004 Oregon Book award, Dr. Henry Hughes. Although Hughes is a professor of all levels of literature and writing at Western, he specializes in poetry. Poetry, though, is only one piece of his multi-faceted life.

Hughes' hobbies include reading, history, nature studies, fishing and running. Hughes is also involved in many activities on the Western campus, and chances are most students have encountered his work in one way or another. His cultural project on whiteness is on exhibit in the library. Hughes also assists with the Jenson Artic Museum and works for the university honors system. Running, another of his numerous passions, culminates with his involvement in the Hood to Coast relay team. Most recently, Hughes gave a lecture on Herman Melville's Moby Dick and the influence of Whales in literature at the Whale Symposium conference.

Currently, Hughes has been touring the west coast giving readings. This Western professor is no stranger to travel, however, living in Asia for five years, sticking mainly to China and Japan. The following is the title poem from Henry Hughes' book of poetry, Men Holding Eggs.

I'm walking over the Brooklyn Bridge with my eight-year-old sister. I can throw her over this wall, I think. Physical laws make it so. Easy. There are no nets, no arms beneath the stone. The idea sparrows through my head, holding a Song vase at the Chait Gallery. A thousand years of celadon blue breaking between my black shoes. For years I really did it--matchbox cars, crowded jets, an HO caboose pulled from the Christmas tracks and tossed out a window. In the car sometimes I panicked--made my father stop. He'd yell, I'd cry, cry for some G.I. Joe rolling off the shoulder. I feel it on this bridge, clasping my sister's lemon hand. She's whistling something, her hair bouncing light feathers down her back. She asks about a black schooner tacking toward the Hudson. There are men on deck holding eggs. -Henry Hughes

Hughes would like people to view him as, "an interested and curious person." As a testament to Hughes' abilities as a teacher, colleague Dr. Keith Kirby said, "[Hughes is a] great guy, admired because of his poetry, very serious about inspiring his students and of course a sharp wit."

When it comes to his students, he makes sure they come away looking at things in a new light. Hughes wants his students to "Read below the surface of things." If interested in meeting Henry Hughes, he will be in the Independence River Gallery on May 6. There will be wine and beer available if you are 21 or older.

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