A 1949 image of the Pickwick, which is the white storefront to the right (Carol W. Martin/Greensboro Historical Museum Collection)
Oxford University had the Eagle and Child, a pub where J.R.R. Tolkein and C.S. Lewis shared stories and life experiences.
Manhattan had the Algonquin Hotel, where literary luminaries gathered at the “round table.”
Greensboro and UNCG had a place that was similarly legendary though decidedly understated: the Pickwick.
Newspaper writers and neighborhood folks, musicians and students assembled there. And especially members of UNCG's MFA writing program.
In a 1994 article about the Pickwick for the North Carolina Literary Review, Mary Elizabeth Parker '79 MFA, '87 PhD explained why she'd found herself regularly at the Walker Avenue pub: “(B)ecause spending nights at the Pickwick was what we did, trailing each other and our professors here as if we couldn't get enough of each other. And in fact, we couldn't.”
Bruce Piephoff '82, '84 MFA was also there often, with his fellow students.
As was his poetry teacher, Robert Watson, who was there “just for the conversation,” Piephoff recalls. Or perhaps a bite to eat. Watson once told him that he was allergic to beer.
At the Pickwick, you had booths and a jukebox. “No TV in the Pickwick,” Piephoff recalls. “No distractions.”
Writers and musicians were there, he explains. And they talked. Conversation flowed much more than beer ever did, and beer was the strongest thing they served.
Piephoff had been a music and recreation therapist at Durham's Umstead Hospital before coming to UNCG in his late 20s to complete his undergraduate work in English and then join the rigorous MFA program in creative writing. Since then, he's released 21 albums. The latest, 2011's “Still Looking Up at the Stars,” features a spoken-word song evoking proprietor Marvin Craig, Fred Chappell, Bob Watson and others he recalls at the Pickwick. (Listen to “For Marvin” here, on Speranza Recordings.)
The stories and life lessons learned there have become a part of his art. For many years, he has been an artist-in-residence in various parts of the state, sharing his songs.
Piephoff describes the relationships those in the program had in a way that sounds like an informal living-learning community. Intensive reading, writing and studying in preparation for class. Challenging yet supportive classroom experiences. Class ended, but the conversation and bonding continued.
In the 80s, he wrote a poem for Robert Watson as he retired. The poem, “Greetings from Holden Beach,” touched on Watson's real world lessons of meter and cadence and rhyme — and observing and appreciating the world around you.
“Wish you were here” are the final words.
UNCG's Hodges Special Collections & University Archives preserves many Robert Watson manuscripts, as well as photographs and miscellanea. It also preserves many articles in which he was interviewed, over the decades. Here is a sampling of Robert Watson quotes:
“Good poems are like people we admire; they have liveliness, energy, force and are not like anything we have read before, not like anyone we have met before…”
— In “A New Poet's Views: Poetry, Pubs, People,” c. 1962
“At my undergraduate college, writing courses were offered to students to prove to them that they couldn't be writers. In Greensboro every year the writing teachers half expect the next Keats or the next Jane Austen to be enrolled in the sophomore writing class.”
— In the introduction to “The Greensboro Reader,” 1968
“Writing has to be a private experience for the novelist or poet before it can become a private experience for the reader. Anything that's written to mean something has to come from within and it has to be a gut feeling in order to touch anyone who happens to read it.”
— In a news release, 1977
“The poet is usually considered a seer — possessing insightfulness, but the poet is also an eavesdropper on the sounds of the universe.”
— In the publication “Greensboro, the Magazine of the Triad,” 1978
“I compose most of my poetry and fiction on foot. It helps, especially in the rhythm department. When I've got enough in my head, I go write it down as fast as I can.”
— In the publication “Greensboro, the Magazine of the Triad,” 1978
“In my novel, I put myself in the place of the characters, to experience what they have to experience. When I'm writing, they have to be more real to me than real people.”
— In a news release, 1977
“The classes give students an audience, a reaction, that they won't have often after they're published. They get a critical response on how they can improve their works and this is something that new writers need.”
— In a news release, 1977
“The real joy of writing is not publication, not money, not fame — it's the writing.”
— In Greensboro Daily News, 1980
The MFA Writing Program will host a special Robert Watson tribute at this fall's Homecoming, the first weekend in November. Book signings and a champagne toast are among the plans, says Jim Clark '78 MFA, director of the MFA writing program. Former students will read, as will current students. A highlight: Professor Emeritus Fred Chappell will speak.
(If you're a UNCG alumnus interested in taking part in the alumni author book signing, contact the MFA Writing Program offices at 336-334-5459.)
The winners of the Robert Watson Literary Prizes will be announced during the event. A $1,000 award is given for the best short story and best poem published in the Spring Issue of The Greensboro Review each year. Clark notes the program receives thousands of submissions from around the world for the award, which means a great deal to writers beginning their careers. Watson began the award program, which was renamed for him in 2007.
The full Homecoming schedule will be released in the fall.
Each year, dozens of writers give readings at UNCG as part of the Distinguished Visiting Writers series.
In recent years, in addition to Robert Watson's reading, it has offered writers as diverse as Alan Shapiro, Kat Meads, Randall Kenan, Fred Chappell, Lee Zacharias, Oscar Hijuelos, Michael Parker and Nami Mun.
The readings occur at the Faculty Center and other campus locations, as well as St. Mary's House near the Walker Avenue/Tate Street intersection.
Bookmark their web page to stay in-the-know on who is giving the next readings. Book signings and good conversation are part of the evenings.
