An evening of poetry, good company and fine wine with Stephen Gyllenhaal

Last night, Ruby and I were fortunate enough to enjoy an evening with ten poets, providing shelter in more ways than one from the winds and rain of December London. As a happy appreciator of good conversation, literature and fine wine, I would have enjoyed Thursday evening whether or not Stephen Gyllenhaal had been there. But he was there and he made the evening magical by bringing a little bit of Hollywood sunshine into Marylebone High Street.

Not everyone knew before the gathering, including some of the other poets, that Stephen had two such famous and well respected children, and their discovery added to the buzz. A lot of people, not just myself, got a thrill from telling Stephen how much we admired Jake and Maggie and he seemed to enjoy hearing it, saying he would pass on all the good wishes. All of the poets received a good reception but Stephen's was especially warm, not just because he had voyaged such a long way, but also because his enthusiasm for poetry and his pride in his inspiration for the poems he read last night - his children and family - were catching.


The event, which was a charity event for Oxfam, was hosted by Canadian poet and Oxfam poet in residence, Todd Swift (pictured below), who revealed some amazing facts about Oxfam's poetry readings in that particular shop. The meetings had taken place regularly for four years but would end that evening - in four years there had been 20 meetings and 110 poets. The book shop itself was special, as I'm sure Ruby would agree, and its shelves had been browsed by many familiar faces over the years, including Paul McCartney. Todd called it a 'truly resonant space' for poets.


One of the driving forces behind the readings has been to promote creative writing in everyone: 'This night is all about being possible' but the number of poets, ten, would make this particular evening take on an 'impossible theme'. Each poet would have a restricted amount of time except for the two who had travelled the most, Alistair Noon from Berlin and Stephen Gyllenhaal ('that's how it's pronounced') from Los Angeles, who would each be given an extra five minutes, with Stephen beginning the second half.


The long shop was packed, with some people standing at the back. The atmosphere was friendly and chatty, helped a little no doubt by the steady flow of wine and the warmth inside set against the driving rain outside. We heard some memorable poems - Ruby and I were both especially affected by Susan Grindley (pictured below), whose poem 'Soon she will be joining my dead' played havoc with my mascara. This poem begins

'My aunts, variously gracious
and flustered, will welcome her with tea.'

and ends

'My first love will tell her
how he came to die so young.

My father will ask her to tell him all about me.'

Please read the rest.


Another poet we enjoyed was Luke Kennard, hugely talented and so young. He made everyone laugh with his ode to the murderer, making sure that the murderer did not forget that he was a murderer. 'He likes my jokes.'

Stephen is a born performer, walking back and forth, gesturing wildly or precisely, a natural actor. He also swears - a lot. He's animated and is a great communicator, through conversation, poetry, hand strokes, hand shakes and broad smiles. In his introduction, Todd said: 'People think it's Gyllenhaal' (with a hard G) - 'They're wrong!' cried out Stephen to a big laugh. Todd then told those who didn't know that 'these loins' had 'created so much talent', namely Jake and Maggie who are going from strength to strength. Todd called Stephen's poetry funny and passionate and it really was.


Stephen began by talking a little about 'this strange family, backlit', surrounded by microphones and living in Hollywood. Of poetry, he said: 'Poetry dismantled me... It's so precious to me, so important to me.' 'Sonnets are wild!' 'I'm not a particularly sane person'. Stephen read, with great emotion, The Man and Photosynthesis, about the Hollywood Hills and feeling safe (but 'poetry fucked that up'). He also read Grammar, a beautiful poem - 'a tiny space - to my son - the rhythm and the rhyme.'

'The beauty of what's you I knew when you arrived
In blood and tiny fingers, reaching blindly at it all'

Stephen introduced another poem for Jake, 'At 25', by remembering Jake's own visit to London and his appearance on stage in This is Our Youth. Stephen recalled how Jake had not done theatre since high school and he was known for never knowing his lines. 'I was so terrified every line he was going to forget' and back stage, Stephen 'burst into tears'. Both this reading and that of Maggie's poem 'Watching You Strip/My Daughter' were too emotional to describe in cold words here.


Stephen fininshed by reading his latest poem – the 'first fucking poem I've written in a while', called, I believe, Tree surgeon.

I'm grateful to Stephen for putting up with my excited questions, for being open and for being so friendly, warm and generous with his handshakes and armpats. I got an autographed copy signed to me and poetry, but I came away with much more than that. And again, I'm proud of the warm welcome the Gyllenhaals can expect to receive in London Town.

Tomorrow, we'll be back on track but I thought a poetic interlude can never be a bad thing. For copies of Stephen's book (which Stephen told me he does want to find a way to sell directly in the UK), please visit here.


Pictures from WDW, Todd Swift and Claptrap. Poetry extracts by Stephen Gyllenhaal and Susan Grindley.