“Big Dog” poets Brian Fanelli and Daryl Sznyter presented their work to a crowd of students, faculty and community members at Monty’s on April 11.

Bloomsburg student Jose Gamboa thoroughly enjoyed the event: “Each poem told a different story; each poem conveys their own experience, and it was a joy to experience it myself.”

Sznyter is the author of a collection of poems titled “Synonyms for (OTHER) Bodies,” while Fanelli authored collections of poetry titled “Waiting for the Dead to Speak” and “All That Remains.” 

Sznyter’s interest with the horror genre was apparent when she read two poems about female monsters. It begins, “I seem sweet enough to stick around” and from there describes all the “horrors” that go on when dating a female monster, perhaps admitting that the stereotypical “difficult-to-handle-girlfriend” is an actual thing, or that the voice of the poem is supposed to be sarcastic and uncaring about whether or not she is difficult.  

Fanelli, the second poet to speak, explained that he was only twenty when his father passed away, presenting the poem “Hunting Season” about how he and his father didn’t have much in common while he was growing up. The last lines stuck with the audience: the father in the poem went to the son’s bedroom door and he “wanted me to follow him” but the son “gave no reply.” The last line seemed to be packed with regret for not trying to spend more time with one’s father. 

Fanelli also presented his work “Writing the Last Word” about his time spent as a newspaper reporter covering tragic stories and getting quotes from family or friends of someone who died in the tragedies. He describes the difficulty of getting the truth or details about the situation because everyone just wants to say how great the person who passed once was. He as a reporter gives into their efforts because he knows this will be the “last time his name will appear in print.”