[Wgcp-whc] 1st session--9/16 (Ben Lerner) books now available

[Richard Deming]

Dear Friends,

 A new day dawns. On Friday September 16th 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.  The focus of this discussion will be Mean Free Path, Ben Lerner’s third (and most recent book of poems). Lerner will give a reading on 9/29th and then join us on 9/30 to discuss his work.

 Although young. Lerner is quite accomplished.  Here is the bio from his publisher:

Ben Lerner is the author of three books of poetry The Lichtenberg Figures, Angle of Yaw, and Mean Free Path. 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.

 His newest book is Leaving the Atocha Station, a novel that incorporates meditations on poetics and art as part of its structure. You can read more about it here: http://www.amazon.com/Leaving-Atocha-Station-Ben-Lerner/dp/1566892740

 But since we focus on poetry, we’ll discuss the recent poetry collection, Mean Free Path. David Gorin has a terrific, thoughtful review of the book here:

 

http://jacketmagazine.com/40/r-lerner-rb-gorin.shtml

and this goes very nicely with an interview by Aaron Kunin with Lerner available here:

http://jacketmagazine.com/40/lerner-kunin.shtml

 

Karla Kelsey offers a very smart reading of Mean Free Path:

http://www.constantcritic.com/karla_kelsey/mean-free-path/

 

 

And here is another useful review:

http://criticalflame.org/verse/0910_pritchard.htm

 

 

A response to some earlier work of Lerner’s by Sarah Stone (under her nom du plume) is available here

http://jacketmagazine.com/37/stone-freeman-re-lerner.shtml

 

 

At this point, you may be asking: “Mean Free Path sounds amazing, how can I—as  a member of WGCP—get a copy?”  We have purchased 16 copies for members of the group.  These are free and are available in our mailbox in the main office of the Whitney Humanities Center.  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. 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.

 

And I wanted to also take just a moment to congratulate one of our members-in-the-field, Anna Moschovakis.  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 You and Three Others Are Approaching a Lake, 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.”  Brava, Anna!

 

And as ever:

Remember:

The Working Group in Contemporary Poetry and Poetics meets every other Friday 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. 

Onward!

Richard Deming, Group Coordinator
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