We artists all have our obsessions. They come and go, they haunt us, inspire us, and move us to create in unthought-of-before ways. 

Nancy Eimers calls these “affinities”. 

On Thursday, April 4, as our second Spring 2024 Smith Reader, Eimers read from her 2011 poetry collection “Oz” and her 2022 poetry collection “Human Figures” as well as a few other poems.

While both “Oz” and “Human Figures” encapsulate several themes and topics, one prominent commonality they seem to have been that they use physical objects and mundane experiences to explore metaphors. Whether they are about dollhouses and fitting rooms or mannequins and parking lots, Eimers’s poems offer introspection, a look into the human psyche, and a snapshot of what the world used to be and what it has become, both for better and for worse. 

“Human Figures” in particular thoroughly explores mannequins and how they used to be used in bombing tests but according to Eimers, she feels the mannequins are representative of families and communities and their destruction in these tests is to represent so much more in her poems. 

Eimers’s inspirations, apart from mannequins used for bombing tests, have included over the years, Judy Garland, loss, clouds, pencils and pencil marks, and handwriting. She also says that “place is resonant” for her. She specifically discusses suburban areas as “very generic” but “still unique”. She also says the “names of things are resonant” and inspire her as well. 

Originally from Chicago, Eimers earned a B.A. at the University of Iowa for English, an M.A. at Indiana University for English with a Poetry concentration, an M.F.A. at the University of Arizona for Poetry, and a PhD at University of Houston for Literature and Creative Writing. She has taught literature and creative writing at Western Michigan University and now lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan. 

Also, there is a Wikipedia page about her, which I think is awesome!