Adorned in a forest green wool sweater, poet and author C.D. Wright seemed slightly nervous at the beginning of her reading at the University of Connecticut on Feb. 10.

Laughter is certainly the best medicine.

Upon pausing for a sip of water, Wright was reminded of a funny anecdote that she told the audience. She had gone to a friend’s reading and he was so nervous he had dry mouth but was unable to drink water because his hand couldn’t stop shaking.

“He asked, ‘How am I going to drink this water?’” Wright said.

The audience’s chuckles put Wright at ease.

The reading was part of the Aetna in Residence Program, a program that brings an internationally or nationally renowned poet to UConn every spring and fall. The program was started in 2003 and is funded by an Aetna grant.

Wright read a medley of poems, mostly from her newest collection, “Rising, Falling, Hovering,” published in 2008. The collection was inspired by modern America.

One of the most distinctive aspects of Wright’s poetry is its style. Many of the poems employ modern techniques. For instance, she often uses short, simplistic lines. Her poetry also tends to be conversational; one long run-on sentence broken up into many smaller ones. It is both narrative and descriptive, but unlike many narrative poems, it doesn’t sound like prose.

One poem I liked was “Floating Trees,” a poem about domestic life from the “Tremble” collection. I thought the descriptions of this poem were very eloquent. Wright immediately got my attention with the title. Like the other poems, the lines were very terse, but nonetheless effective.

Wright was unable to pinpoint the main source of inspiration for her poetry.

“Inspiration is for amateurs,” she said. “You get a few gifts, but in poetry, much of it is free-willed.”

One poem, “In a Mansion of Happiness,” was inspired by Parker Brothers first board game, “A Mansion of Happiness.” The poem is part of the collection entitled
“One Big Self: an Investigation,” a collaboration with photographer Deborah Luster that portrays prison life at a Louisiana prison.

Wright also read some of the poems in the “40 Watt” series, a series of forty short poems. The most memorable of these poems was entitled, “Poem Where Every Other Line is a Falsehood,” which does exactly what the title describes.

“It was like writing country,” Wright said. “I hate country, but it’s my culture so I’m allowed to hate it.”

The poem was very innovative, taking an approach I had never seen before in poetry.

Wright has published 12 books of poetry and prose. Her literary honors include the MacArthur Fellowship and Lannan Literary Award. She was named Poet Laureate of Rhode Island in 1994, a five- year post, and currently teaches at Brown University in Providence.