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<!--StartFragment--><p class="MsoNormal">Dear Friends,</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>A new day dawns. On Friday September 16<sup>th</sup> from
3-5 in rm 116 of the Whitney Humanities Center, we will have our first session
of the Yale Contemporary Poetics Group for the 2011-2012 academic year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The focus of this discussion will be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Mean Free Path</i>, Ben Lerner’s third (and
most recent book of poems). Lerner will give a reading on 9/29<sup>th</sup> and
then join us on 9/30 to discuss his work.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Although young. Lerner is quite accomplished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Here is the bio from his publisher:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="font-family:Cambria;mso-ascii-theme-font:
minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;font-weight:normal">Ben Lerner</span></strong>
is the author of three books of poetry <em><span style="font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin">The
Lichtenberg Figures, Angle of Yaw, and Mean Free Path</span></em>. Lerner has
been a finalist for the National Book Award and the Northern California Book
Award, a Fulbright Scholar in Spain, and the recipient of a 2010-2011 Howard
Foundation Fellowship. In 2011 he became the first American to win the Preis
der Stadt Münster für Internationale Poesie. He teaches in the writing
program at Brooklyn College.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>His newest book is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Leaving
the Atocha Station</i>, a novel that incorporates meditations on poetics and
art as part of its structure. You can read more about it here: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Leaving-Atocha-Station-Ben-Lerner/dp/1566892740">http://www.amazon.com/Leaving-Atocha-Station-Ben-Lerner/dp/1566892740</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>But since we focus on poetry, we’ll discuss the recent
poetry collection, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Mean Free Path</i>.
David Gorin has a terrific, thoughtful review of the book here:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://jacketmagazine.com/40/r-lerner-rb-gorin.shtml">http://jacketmagazine.com/40/r-lerner-rb-gorin.shtml</a></p><p class="MsoNormal">and this goes very nicely with an interview by Aaron Kunin
with Lerner available here:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://jacketmagazine.com/40/lerner-kunin.shtml">http://jacketmagazine.com/40/lerner-kunin.shtml</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Karla Kelsey offers a very smart reading of Mean Free Path:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.constantcritic.com/karla_kelsey/mean-free-path/">http://www.constantcritic.com/karla_kelsey/mean-free-path/</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">And here is another useful review:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://criticalflame.org/verse/0910_pritchard.htm">http://criticalflame.org/verse/0910_pritchard.htm</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">A response to some earlier work of Lerner’s by Sarah Stone
(under her nom du plume) is available here</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://jacketmagazine.com/37/stone-freeman-re-lerner.shtml">http://jacketmagazine.com/37/stone-freeman-re-lerner.shtml</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">At this point, you may be asking: “Mean Free Path sounds
amazing, how can I—as<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>a member of
WGCP—get a copy?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">We have purchased 16 copies for members of
the group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>These are free and are
available in our mailbox in the main office of the Whitney Humanities
Center.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>All we ask is that you
only take a copy if you think you will be able to make at least one of the
sessions devoted to Lerner and his work. </b>I would recommend getting a copy
early, as they tend to go quickly. Remember, too, to feel free to pass word
about these discussions to anyone who might be interested.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">And I wanted to also take just a moment to congratulate one
of our members-in-the-field, Anna Moschovakis.<span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span>Anna’s new book just received the James Laughlin Award.
Quoting from the judges citation: “Anna Moschovakis boldly writes as though
Plato had never kicked poets out of the Republic, and in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:
normal">You and Three Others Are Approaching a Lake</i>, she takes up the
citizen's task of thinking through political and existential issues relevant to
lives lived in increasing dependence on internet access and globalization
both.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Brava, Anna!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p>And as ever:</o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Remember:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span>The Working Group in Contemporary Poetry and Poetics meets every other Friday </span>at 3.00 PM in room 116 at the Whitney Humanities Center at Yale University to discuss problems and issues of contemporary poetry within international alternative and /or avant-garde traditions of lyric poetry. All are welcome to attend. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Onward!</p><p class="MsoNormal">Richard Deming, Group Coordinator</p>
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