Taste & Tell | Lux Poetica: Experiencing Flavors and Fragrances in Modern Poetry

When

Wednesday June 25, 2025: 6:00pm to 7:30pm  Add to Calendar /   Add to Google Calendar

Where

Downtown Library: 4th Floor Program Room

Description

Poetry is the anarchy of the senses making sense. —Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919-2021)

Passages in poetry that reference flavors and fragrances draw us into the sensorial experience and imagination of the writer while shining a light on our own. This is especially true of modern poetry that embraces the prosaic in place of rigid, codified forms.

The use of a shorter format and the immediacy it offers facilitates identification, catharsis, insight and universalization typically encountered when reading novels. This is especially true when a flavor/fragrance referenced in a prose poem is linked to the reading experience

We’ll explore these phenomena at Lux Poetica where participants will taste and smell ingredients using professional sensory evaluation techniques derived from perfumer and flavorist training prior to reading related prose poems.

Taste & Tell is led by Michelle Krell Kydd, a trained nose in flavors and fragrance who shares her passion for gastronomy, sensory evaluation, and the perfume arts in Glass Petal Smoke. Taste & Tell builds community through interactions with flavor, fragrance and storytelling.