As anyone who has heard Marvin Bell read his poems can attest, he is a powerful reader. He doesn't read in the dramatic voice of some of our more "theatrical" poets, but in the measured speech of a man talking about personal matters, I heard Bell read from his work and deliver an "informal lecture" at the 1983 Breadloaf Writers' Conference. What impressed me then was his wit and his ability to work an audience; a small figure, practically hidden by the podium, he charmed the crowd with his easy manner, his impromptu jokes, his sense of timing. There was a musical quality to his voice when he read, and he often spoke around the poems, narrating a story about or providing a footnote on the composition of a particular poem.