On April 22, poets Nin Andrews (The Last Orgasm), Sandra Beasley (Made to Explode), Vijay Seshadri (That Was Now, This Is Then), and Katherine E. Young (Woman Drinking Absinthe) read from their newest collections, offering poetry that explores connections between the ordinary and the profound, the landscapes and legacies of a life, the lyric of longing, the search for art as solace, and more. Moderated by Raisa Tolchinsky.
Watch the recording from this event here:
“Like her topic, Nin Andrews’ virtuosic collection is as equivocal as it is evanescent, with unpredictable gaps and surges. No poem/orgasm stands alone–the collection is richly (and hilariously) associational, mythically postmodern, a twinkling synaptic map of contemporary and historic poetic correlations.” –Claire Bateman, Scape
“A rare and vibrant exploration of whiteness and complicity when it comes to America’s history and traditions, Made to Explode is a courageous interrogation of self, culture, and how we are made. Both unflinching and tender, Beasley’s smart and radiant poems glow with a historian’s exactitude and a poet’s lyrical heart.” ― Ada Limón, author of The Carrying
“Seshadri’s is a voice that speaks honestly, without any patronizing, a voice that wants to see in each of us ‘the free person, the truly free, free from time, space’. . . . The only way to speak in our time’s moment. Or, any moment.” ―Ilya Kaminsky
“Woman Drinking Absinthe is an emotional rescue operation, survival guide, and call to arms. How do you navigate the minefields of the heart? Avoid the collateral damage of relationships? Katherine E. Young finds keys in nature, in opera, in seasoning, in Civil War battlefields, phantom limbs, shadows, and invisible flowers. This book is a puzzle pulsing with universal need, and yet, she adds coyly, ‘Who doesn’t want to be mesmerized by love?’ A hard-won truth for life’s one-act play.” —Richard Peabody, founder and editor of Gargoyle Magazine, author of Guinness on the Quay
Community Partner
Thanks to the Creative Writing Program at UVA for their help in sharing this event.
