Camille T. Dungy

Major Jackson

On April 11, 2023, The Lannan Center hosted a reading and talk featuring poets Camille T. Dungy and Major Jackson.Camille T. Dungy is the author of four collections of poetry, most recently Trophic Cascade (Wesleyan UP, 2017), winner of the Colorado Book Award. She is also the author of the essay collections Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden (Simon &amp; Schuster, 2023) and Guidebook to Relative Strangers: Journeys into Race, Motherhood and History (W.W. Norton, 2017), a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Dungy has also edited anthologies including Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry and From the Fishouse: An Anthology of Poems that Sing, Rhyme, Resound, Syncopate, Alliterate, and Just Plain Sound Great. A 2019 Guggenheim Fellow, her honors include NEA Fellowships in poetry (2003) and prose (2018), an American Book Award, two NAACP Image Award nominations, and two Hurston/Wright Legacy Award nominations. Dungy’s poems have been published in Best American Poetry, The 100 Best African American Poems, the Pushcart Anthology, Best American Travel Writing, and over thirty other anthologies. She is University Distinguished Professor at Colorado State University.Major Jackson is the author of six collections of poetry: Razzle Dazzle: New &amp; Selected Poems; The Absurd Man; Roll Deep; Holding Company; Hoops; and Leaving Saturn, which was awarded the Cave Canem Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry. His poems and essays have appeared in AGNI, American Poetry Review, Callaloo, The New Yorker, Ploughshares, Poetry, Tin House, and in Best American Poetry. He served as guest editor of Best American Poetry in 2019. Jackson is a recipient of a Pushcart Prize, a Whiting Writers’ Award, and has been honored by the Pew Fellowship in the Arts and the Witter Bynner Foundation in conjunction with the Library of Congress. Jackson lives in South Burlington, Vermont, where he is the Richard Dennis Green and Gold Professor at the University of Vermont.Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

On April 11, 2023, The Lannan Center hosted a reading and talk featuring poets Camille T. Dungy and Major Jackson. Camille T. Dungy is the author of four collections of poetry, most recently Trophic Cascade (Wesleyan UP, 2017), winner of the Colorado Book Award. She is also the author of the essay collections Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden (Simon &amp; Schuster, 2023) and Guidebook to Relative Strangers: Journeys into Race, Motherhood and History (W.W. Norton, 2017), a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Dungy has also edited anthologies including Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry and From the Fishouse: An Anthology of Poems that Sing, Rhyme, Resound, Syncopate, Alliterate, and Just Plain Sound Great. A 2019 Guggenheim Fellow, her honors include NEA Fellowships in poetry (2003) and prose (2018), an American Book Award, two NAACP Image Award nominations, and two Hurston/Wright Legacy Award nominations. Dungy’s poems have been published in Best American Poetry, The 100 Best African American Poems, the Pushcart Anthology, Best American Travel Writing, and over thirty other anthologies. She is University Distinguished Professor at Colorado State University. Major Jackson is the author of six collections of poetry: Razzle Dazzle: New &amp; Selected Poems; The Absurd Man; Roll Deep; Holding Company; Hoops; and Leaving Saturn, which was awarded the Cave Canem Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry. His poems and essays have appeared in AGNI, American Poetry Review, Callaloo, The New Yorker, Ploughshares, Poetry, Tin House, and in Best American Poetry. He served as guest editor of Best American Poetry in 2019. Jackson is a recipient of a Pushcart Prize, a Whiting Writers’ Award, and has been honored by the Pew Fellowship in the Arts and the Witter Bynner Foundation in conjunction with the Library of Congress. Jackson lives in South Burlington, Vermont, where he is the Richard Dennis Green and Gold Professor at the University of Vermont. Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

Camille T. Dungy and Major Jackson | 2022-2023 Readings & Talks

Fanny Howe

Kazim Ali

On February 28, 2023, The Lannan Center hosted a reading and talk featuring poets Kazim Ali and Fanny Howe.Kazim Ali was born in the United Kingdom and has lived transnationally in the United States, Canada, India, France, and the Middle East. His books encompass multiple genres, including the volumes of poetry Inquisition, Sky Ward, winner of the Ohioana Book Award in Poetry; The Far Mosque, winner of Alice James Books’ New England/New York Award; The Fortieth Day; All One’s Blue; and the cross-genre texts Bright Felon and Wind Instrument. His novels include the recently published The Secret Room: A String Quartet and among his books of essays are the hybrid memoir Silver Road: Essays, Maps &amp; Calligraphies and Fasting for Ramadan: Notes from a Spiritual Practice. He is also an accomplished translator (of Marguerite Duras, Sohrab Sepehri, Ananda Devi, Mahmoud Chokrollahi and others) and an editor of several anthologies and books of criticism. He is currently a Professor of Literature at the University of California, San Diego. His newest books are a volume of three long poems entitled The Voice of Sheila Chandra and a memoir of his Canadian childhood, Northern Light.Fanny Howe is the author of over twenty books of poetry and prose including Love and I (2019), The Needle’s Eye (2016), Second Childhood (2014), Come and See (2011), On the Ground (2004), Gone (2003), Selected Poems (2000), Forged (1999), Q (1998), One Crossed Out (1997), O’Clock (1995), and The End (1992). The recipient of the 2002 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize for Selected Poems (2000), she has also won awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Poetry Foundation, the California Council for the Arts and the Village Voice, as well as fellowships from the Bunting Institute and the MacArthur Colony. Howe was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2001. A creative writing teacher of note, Howe has lectured at Tufts University, Emerson College, Columbia University, Yale University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is Professor Emerita of Writing and Literature at the University of California, San Diego.Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

On February 28, 2023, The Lannan Center hosted a reading and talk featuring poets Kazim Ali and Fanny Howe. Kazim Ali was born in the United Kingdom and has lived transnationally in the United States, Canada, India, France, and the Middle East. His books encompass multiple genres, including the volumes of poetry Inquisition, Sky Ward, winner of the Ohioana Book Award in Poetry; The Far Mosque, winner of Alice James Books’ New England/New York Award; The Fortieth Day; All One’s Blue; and the cross-genre texts Bright Felon and Wind Instrument. His novels include the recently published The Secret Room: A String Quartet and among his books of essays are the hybrid memoir Silver Road: Essays, Maps &amp; Calligraphies and Fasting for Ramadan: Notes from a Spiritual Practice. He is also an accomplished translator (of Marguerite Duras, Sohrab Sepehri, Ananda Devi, Mahmoud Chokrollahi and others) and an editor of several anthologies and books of criticism. He is currently a Professor of Literature at the University of California, San Diego. His newest books are a volume of three long poems entitled The Voice of Sheila Chandra and a memoir of his Canadian childhood, Northern Light. Fanny Howe is the author of over twenty books of poetry and prose including Love and I (2019), The Needle’s Eye (2016), Second Childhood (2014), Come and See (2011), On the Ground (2004), Gone (2003), Selected Poems (2000), Forged (1999), Q (1998), One Crossed Out (1997), O’Clock (1995), and The End (1992). The recipient of the 2002 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize for Selected Poems (2000), she has also won awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Poetry Foundation, the California Council for the Arts and the Village Voice, as well as fellowships from the Bunting Institute and the MacArthur Colony. Howe was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize in 2001. A creative writing teacher of note, Howe has lectured at Tufts University, Emerson College, Columbia University, Yale University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is Professor Emerita of Writing and Literature at the University of California, San Diego.Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

Kazim Ali and Fanny Howe | 2022-2023 Readings & Talks

Mecca Jamilah Sullivan

Baseera Khan

A Conversation with Mecca Jamilah Sullivan (Author of Big Girl) and Artist Baseera Khan, moderated by Prof. Nadia Brown.If a body could speak, what would it say? The way our bodies are viewed and categorized is not always within our power. A writer and a visual artist reflect upon representing, in words and images, the experiences which come with existing in bodies: black, brown, queer, female, Muslim, big – defined by systems of power beyond our control.Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

A Conversation with Mecca Jamilah Sullivan (Author of Big Girl) and Artist Baseera Khan, moderated by Prof. Nadia Brown. If a body could speak, what would it say? The way our bodies are viewed and categorized is not always within our power. A writer and a visual artist reflect upon representing, in words and images, the experiences which come with existing in bodies: black, brown, queer, female, Muslim, big – defined by systems of power beyond our control. Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

2023 Lannan Symposium | "Body Image" Featuring Mecca Jamilah Sullivan and Baseera Khan

Diane Rehm

Ewan Goligher

 A Discussion with NPR’s Diane Rehm and Dr. Ewan GoligherFollowed by a Panel Discussion with Dr. Lydia Dugdale (Columbia University), Dr. Ewan Goligher (University of Toronto), Diane Rehm (NPR), and Dr. Katalin Roth (George Washington University), moderated by journalist John Donvan. Should we be able to choose how and when we die? And what are the real-life consequences of laws that allow for medical assistance in dying? An international panel of physicians, writers, and ethicists set the stage for a discussion of philosophical, practical, theological, and personal implications of medical assistance in dying. Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

A Discussion with NPR’s Diane Rehm and Dr. Ewan Goligher Followed by a Panel Discussion with <a href="http://lydiadugdale.com/author" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Lydia Dugdale</a> (Columbia University), <a href="http://criticalcaretoronto.com/tgh-msicu/our-team/dr-ewan-goligher/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dr. Ewan Goligher</a> (University of Toronto), <a href="https://lannan.georgetown.edu/diane-rehm/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Diane Rehm</a> (NPR), and Dr. Katalin Roth (George Washington University), moderated by journalist John Donvan. Should we be able to choose how and when we die? And what are the real-life consequences of laws that allow for medical assistance in dying? An international panel of physicians, writers, and ethicists set the stage for a discussion of philosophical, practical, theological, and personal implications of medical assistance in dying.  Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

2023 Lannan Symposium | "How We Die" Featuring Diane Rehm and Dr. Ewan Goligher

A Conversation with Meghan O’Rourke, Author of The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness.Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

A Conversation with Meghan O’Rourke, Author of The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness. Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

2023 Lannan Symposium | "Surviving in the Aftermath" A Conversation with Meghan O'Rourke

 A Panel Discussion with Rabih Alameddine (The Angel of History), Meghan O’Rourke (The Invisible Kingdom), and Dr. Daniel Marchalik, moderated by Tope Folarin. More than just a sickness, pandemics are the place where illness meets politics. Today we live in the aftermath of two great pandemics, the AIDS pandemic of the 1980’s and the COVID-19 pandemic. How has our society and how have we been changed by those events? What is the role of the writer as activist or custodian of memory in the story of the aftermath?Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

A Panel Discussion with <a href="https://lannan.georgetown.edu/rabih-alameddine/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rabih Alameddine</a> (The Angel of History), <a href="https://lannan.georgetown.edu/meghan-orourke/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Meghan O’Rourke</a> (The Invisible Kingdom), and Dr. <a href="https://gufaculty360.georgetown.edu/s/contact/00336000014TiyRAAS/daniel-marchalik" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Daniel Marchalik</a>, moderated by <a href="https://lannan.georgetown.edu/past-guests/tope-folarin/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tope Folarin</a>. More than just a sickness, pandemics are the place where illness meets politics. Today we live in the aftermath of two great pandemics, the AIDS pandemic of the 1980’s and the COVID-19 pandemic. How has our society and how have we been changed by those events? What is the role of the writer as activist or custodian of memory in the story of the aftermath? Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

2023 Lannan Symposium | "Surviving in the Aftermath" Panel

Patricia Smith

On Tuesday, January 24th, 2023, The Lannan Center hosted a reading and conversation with poet Patricia Smith,Patricia Smith is the award-winning author of eight critically-acclaimed books of poetry, including Incendiary Art (Triquarterly Books, 2017), winner of the 2018 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, the 2018 NAACP Image Award, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah (Coffee House Press, 2012), winner of the Lenore Marshall Prize from the Academy of American Poets; Blood Dazzler (Coffee House Press, 2008), a National Book Award finalist; and Gotta Go, Gotta Flow (CityFiles Press, 2015), a collaboration with award-winning Chicago photographer Michael Abramson. Her other books include the poetry volumes Teahouse of the Almighty (Coffee House Press, 2006), Close to Death (Zoland Books, 1998), Big Towns Big Talk (Zoland Books, 2002), Life According to Motown (Tia Chucha, 1991);  the children’s book Janna and the Kings (Lee &amp; Low, 2013), and the history Africans in America (Mariner, 1999), a companion book to the award-winning PBS series. Her work has appeared in Poetry, The Paris Review, The Baffler, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Tin House and in Best American Poetry, Best American Essays and Best American Mystery Stories. She co-edited The Golden Shovel Anthology—New Poems Honoring Gwendolyn Brooks (University of Arkansas Press, 2017), and edited the crime fiction anthology Staten Island Noir (Akashic Books, 2012). She is a Guggenheim fellow, a Civitellian, a National Endowment for the Arts grant recipient, a finalist for the Neustadt Prize, a two-time winner of the Pushcart Prize, a former fellow at both Yaddo and the MacDowell Colony, and a four-time individual champion of the National Poetry Slam, the most successful poet in the competition’s history. Smith is a Distinguished Professor for the City University of New York, a visiting professor at Princeton University and an instructor in the Vermont College of Fine Arts Post-Graduate Residency Program.Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

On Tuesday, January 24th, 2023, The Lannan Center hosted a reading and conversation with poet Patricia Smith, Patricia Smith is the award-winning author of eight critically-acclaimed books of poetry, including Incendiary Art (Triquarterly Books, 2017), winner of the 2018 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, the 2018 NAACP Image Award, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah (Coffee House Press, 2012), winner of the Lenore Marshall Prize from the Academy of American Poets; Blood Dazzler (Coffee House Press, 2008), a National Book Award finalist; and Gotta Go, Gotta Flow (CityFiles Press, 2015), a collaboration with award-winning Chicago photographer Michael Abramson. Her other books include the poetry volumes Teahouse of the Almighty (Coffee House Press, 2006), Close to Death (Zoland Books, 1998), Big Towns Big Talk (Zoland Books, 2002), Life According to Motown (Tia Chucha, 1991);  the children’s book Janna and the Kings (Lee &amp; Low, 2013), and the history Africans in America (Mariner, 1999), a companion book to the award-winning PBS series. Her work has appeared in Poetry, The Paris Review, The Baffler, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Tin House and in Best American Poetry, Best American Essays and Best American Mystery Stories. She co-edited The Golden Shovel Anthology—New Poems Honoring Gwendolyn Brooks (University of Arkansas Press, 2017), and edited the crime fiction anthology Staten Island Noir (Akashic Books, 2012). She is a Guggenheim fellow, a Civitellian, a National Endowment for the Arts grant recipient, a finalist for the Neustadt Prize, a two-time winner of the Pushcart Prize, a former fellow at both Yaddo and the MacDowell Colony, and a four-time individual champion of the National Poetry Slam, the most successful poet in the competition’s history. Smith is a Distinguished Professor for the City University of New York, a visiting professor at Princeton University and an instructor in the Vermont College of Fine Arts Post-Graduate Residency Program. Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

Patricia Smith | 2022-2023 Readings & Talks

Laila Lalami

On Tuesday, November 15, 2022, the Lannan Center hosted a reading and conversation with writer Laila Lalami and moderated by Aminatta Forna. Laila Lalami was born in Rabat and educated in Morocco, Great Britain, and the United States. She is the author of five books, most recently, Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America, which was shortlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. Her other books include, The Moor’s Account, which won the American Book Award, the Arab-American Book Award, and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. It was on the longlist for the Booker Prize and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. Her most recent novel, The Other Americans, was a national bestseller and a finalist for the Kirkus Prize and the National Book Award in Fiction. Her essays and criticism have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, The Nation, Harper’s, the Guardian, and the New York Times. She has been awarded fellowships from the British Council, the Fulbright Program, and the Guggenheim Foundation and is currently a distinguished professor of creative writing at the University of California at Riverside. She lives in Los Angeles.Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

On Tuesday, November 15, 2022, the Lannan Center hosted a reading and conversation with writer Laila Lalami and moderated by Aminatta Forna. Laila Lalami was born in Rabat and educated in Morocco, Great Britain, and the United States. She is the author of five books, most recently, Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America, which was shortlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. Her other books include, The Moor’s Account, which won the American Book Award, the Arab-American Book Award, and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. It was on the longlist for the Booker Prize and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. Her most recent novel, The Other Americans, was a national bestseller and a finalist for the Kirkus Prize and the National Book Award in Fiction. Her essays and criticism have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, The Nation, Harper’s, the Guardian, and the New York Times. She has been awarded fellowships from the British Council, the Fulbright Program, and the Guggenheim Foundation and is currently a distinguished professor of creative writing at the University of California at Riverside. She lives in Los Angeles. Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

Laila Lalami | 2022-2023 Readings & Talks

Chen Chen

On November 1, 2022 the Lannan Center hosted a reading and talk featuring writer Chen Chen and moderated by Carolyn Forché. Chen Chen is the author of two books of poetry, Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency (BOA Editions, 2022) and When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities (BOA Editions, 2017), which was longlisted for the National Book Award and won the Thom Gunn Award, among other honors. His work appears in many publications, including Poetry and three editions of The Best American Poetry. He has received two Pushcart Prizes and fellowships from Kundiman, the National Endowment for the Arts, and United States Artists. He was the 2018-2022 Jacob Ziskind Poet-in-Residence at Brandeis University and currently teaches for the low-residency MFA programs at New England College and Stonecoast. He lives with his partner, Jeff Gilbert, and their pug, Mr. Rupert Giles. Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

On November 1, 2022 the Lannan Center hosted a reading and talk featuring writer Chen Chen and moderated by Carolyn Forché. Chen Chen is the author of two books of poetry, Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency (BOA Editions, 2022) and When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities (BOA Editions, 2017), which was longlisted for the National Book Award and won the Thom Gunn Award, among other honors. His work appears in many publications, including Poetry and three editions of The Best American Poetry. He has received two Pushcart Prizes and fellowships from Kundiman, the National Endowment for the Arts, and United States Artists. He was the 2018-2022 Jacob Ziskind Poet-in-Residence at Brandeis University and currently teaches for the low-residency MFA programs at New England College and Stonecoast. He lives with his partner, Jeff Gilbert, and their pug, Mr. Rupert Giles.  Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

Chen Chen | 2022-2023 Readings & Talks

Seán Hewitt

On Tuesday, October 4, 2022, the Lannan Center presented a reading and talk featuring writer Seán Hewit. Hosted by Professor Cóilín Parsons, Director of Global Irish Studies.Seán Hewitt was born in 1990. His debut collection, Tongues of Fire, is published by Jonathan Cape. He is a book critic for The Irish Times and teaches Modern British &amp; Irish Literature at Trinity College Dublin. His debut collection, Tongues of Fire, won The Laurel Prize, and was shortlisted for The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, the John Pollard Foundation International Poetry Prize, and a Dalkey Literary Award. In 2020, he was chosen by The Sunday Times as one of their “30 under 30”  artists in Ireland. He is also the winner of a Northern Writers’ Award, the Resurgence Prize, and an Eric Gregory Award. His book J.M. Synge: Nature, Politics, Modernism is published with Oxford University Press (2021). His memoir, All Down Darkness Wide, is published by Jonathan Cape in the UK and Penguin Press in the USA (2022).Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

On Tuesday, October 4, 2022, the Lannan Center presented a reading and talk featuring writer Seán Hewit. Hosted by Professor Cóilín Parsons, Director of Global Irish Studies. Seán Hewitt was born in 1990. His debut collection, Tongues of Fire, is published by Jonathan Cape. He is a book critic for The Irish Times and teaches Modern British &amp; Irish Literature at Trinity College Dublin. His debut collection, Tongues of Fire, won The Laurel Prize, and was shortlisted for The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, the John Pollard Foundation International Poetry Prize, and a Dalkey Literary Award. In 2020, he was chosen by The Sunday Times as one of their “30 under 30”  artists in Ireland. He is also the winner of a Northern Writers’ Award, the Resurgence Prize, and an Eric Gregory Award. His book J.M. Synge: Nature, Politics, Modernism is published with Oxford University Press (2021). His memoir, All Down Darkness Wide, is published by Jonathan Cape in the UK and Penguin Press in the USA (2022). Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

Seán Hewitt | 2022-2023 Readings & Talks

Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice at Georgetown University is a literary, critical, and pedagogical undertaking devoted to the situation of poetry and poetics in the contemporary world. Based in the President’s Office, the Center brings attention to a traditional domain of academic research, but sees poetry as a current practice rather than as a field of historical research. The Center recognizes that “art’s social presence,” in the phrase of Adrienne Rich, is vital to contemporary culture; that poetry, or writing more generally, traverses the fields of aesthetic, social, political, and religious thought: it reconfigures these fields according to the designs of imagination. The Lannan Center hosts Readings and Talks throughout the academic year. Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

On Wednesday, September 14, 2022, the Lannan Center presented a special evening featuring Nobel Laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah. Hosted by Lannan Center Director Aminatta Forna. Introduction by Lahra Smith, Director of the African Studies Program.Abdulrazak Gurnah is the 2021 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. His most recent novel, AFTERLIVES is forthcoming from Riverhead Books in August 2022. He is the author of nine previous novels, including Paradise (shortlisted for the Booker Prize), By the Sea (longlisted for the Booker Prize and a finalist for the LA Times Book Award), and Desertion. Born and raised in Zanzibar, he is Professor Emeritus of English and Postcolonial Literatures at the University of Kent; he lives in Canterbury, England.Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

On Wednesday, September 14, 2022, the Lannan Center presented a special evening featuring Nobel Laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah. Hosted by Lannan Center Director Aminatta Forna. Introduction by Lahra Smith, Director of the African Studies Program.Abdulrazak Gurnah is the 2021 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. His most recent novel, AFTERLIVES is forthcoming from Riverhead Books in August 2022. He is the author of nine previous novels, including Paradise (shortlisted for the Booker Prize), By the Sea (longlisted for the Booker Prize and a finalist for the LA Times Book Award), and Desertion. Born and raised in Zanzibar, he is Professor Emeritus of English and Postcolonial Literatures at the University of Kent; he lives in Canterbury, England. Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

A Conversation with Nobel Laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah

Rachel Eliza Griffiths

Victoria Chang

On Tuesday, April 12, 2022, the Lannan Center presented a reading and talk featuring poets Victoria Chang and Rachel Eliza Griffiths. Hosted by Carolyn Forché. Introductions by Lannan Fellows Max Zhang and Hiruni Herat.  About Victoria ChangVictoria Chang’s new book of poetry, The Trees Witness Everything is forthcoming (Copper Canyon Press and Corsair Books in the U.K.). Her nonfiction book, Dear Memory (Milkweed Editions), was published in 2021. OBIT (Copper Canyon Press, 2020), her most recent poetry book, was named a New York Times Notable Book, a Time Must-Read Book, and received the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in Poetry, and the PEN/Voelcker Award. It was also longlisted for a National Book Award and named a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Griffin International Poetry Prize. She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, and lives in Los Angeles and is a Core Faculty member within Antioch’s low-residency MFA Program.About Rachel Eliza GriffithsRachel Eliza Griffiths is a poet, visual artist, and novelist. Her hybrid collection of poetry and photography, Seeing the Body (W.W. Norton), was published in 2020. Other poetry collections by Griffiths include Lighting the Shadow (Four Way Books, 2015), The Requited Distance (Sheep Meadow Press, 2011), Mule &amp; Pear (New Issues Poetry &amp; Prose, 2011), and Miracle Arrhythmia (Willow Books, 2010). Griffiths is a recipient of fellowships including Cave Canem, Kimbilio, Millay Colony, Vermont Studio Center, Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, and Yaddo. Her forthcoming debut novel, Promise, will be published by Random House.Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

On Tuesday, April 12, 2022, the Lannan Center presented a reading and talk featuring poets Victoria Chang and Rachel Eliza Griffiths. Hosted by Carolyn Forché. Introductions by Lannan Fellows Max Zhang and Hiruni Herat.  About Victoria Chang Victoria Chang’s new book of poetry, The Trees Witness Everything is forthcoming (Copper Canyon Press and Corsair Books in the U.K.). Her nonfiction book, Dear Memory (Milkweed Editions), was published in 2021. OBIT (Copper Canyon Press, 2020), her most recent poetry book, was named a New York Times Notable Book, a Time Must-Read Book, and received the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in Poetry, and the PEN/Voelcker Award. It was also longlisted for a National Book Award and named a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Griffin International Poetry Prize. She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, and lives in Los Angeles and is a Core Faculty member within Antioch’s low-residency MFA Program.About Rachel Eliza Griffiths Rachel Eliza Griffiths is a poet, visual artist, and novelist. Her hybrid collection of poetry and photography, Seeing the Body (W.W. Norton), was published in 2020. Other poetry collections by Griffiths include Lighting the Shadow (Four Way Books, 2015), The Requited Distance (Sheep Meadow Press, 2011), Mule &amp; Pear (New Issues Poetry &amp; Prose, 2011), and Miracle Arrhythmia (Willow Books, 2010). Griffiths is a recipient of fellowships including Cave Canem, Kimbilio, Millay Colony, Vermont Studio Center, Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, and Yaddo. Her forthcoming debut novel, Promise, will be published by Random House. Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

Victoria Chang and Rachel Eliza Griffiths | 2021-2022 Readings & Talks

AboutThe United States: exceptional, individual, shining city on the hill, home of democracy, land of the free, of the “American Dream” and the pursuit of happiness. A national narrative is composed of ideas made into stories. And these stories are powerful. In a time of division can Americans agree on a common story or make space for multiple narratives?Panelists: Rabih Alameddine, Aleksandar Hemon, Fathali Moghaddam, and Patricia Smith. Chaired by John FreemanMusic: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

About The United States: exceptional, individual, shining city on the hill, home of democracy, land of the free, of the “American Dream” and the pursuit of happiness. A national narrative is composed of ideas made into stories. And these stories are powerful. In a time of division can Americans agree on a common story or make space for multiple narratives? Panelists: Rabih Alameddine, Aleksandar Hemon, Fathali Moghaddam, and Patricia Smith. Chaired by John Freeman Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

2022 Lannan Symposium | Reimagining the American Narrative

AboutAs the calls for social and racial justice grow, could the United States follow the example of South Africa and other conflict-affected nations and engage in a national, formal reconciliation process?Panelists: Elham Atashi, Tope Folarin, Aleksandar Hemon, and Tim Phillips. Chaired by David SmithMusic: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

About As the calls for social and racial justice grow, could the United States follow the example of South Africa and other conflict-affected nations and engage in a national, formal reconciliation process? Panelists: Elham Atashi, Tope Folarin, Aleksandar Hemon, and Tim Phillips. Chaired by David SmithMusic: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

2022 Lannan Symposium | Does America Need a TRC?

AboutWage inequality in the United States is approaching the extreme level that prevailed prior to the Great Depression, creating new social classes: the precariat (those on short term or zero hours contracts without benefits) and the one percent. With disparity widening––and anger building among some of the dispossessed––can the American Dream endure?Panelists: Sarah Anderson, Amy Goldstein, and John Freeman. Chaired by Tope FolarinMusic: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

About Wage inequality in the United States is approaching the extreme level that prevailed prior to the Great Depression, creating new social classes: the precariat (those on short term or zero hours contracts without benefits) and the one percent. With disparity widening––and anger building among some of the dispossessed––can the American Dream endure? Panelists: Sarah Anderson, Amy Goldstein, and John Freeman. Chaired by Tope Folarin Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

2022 Lannan Symposium | Can America Survive Capitalism?

AboutWe write to make sense of the world around us. From war and political violence to natural disasters and pandemics – how have writers of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction responded to crises in their nation’s history? Panelists: Rabih Alameddine, Aleksandar Hemon, and Patricia Smith; Chaired by Jacki LydenMusic: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

About We write to make sense of the world around us. From war and political violence to natural disasters and pandemics – how have writers of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction responded to crises in their nation’s history? Panelists: Rabih Alameddine, Aleksandar Hemon, and Patricia Smith; Chaired by Jacki Lyden Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

2022 Lannan Symposium | Writing in a Time of Crisis

AboutIf the lion does not tell his story, the hunter will. The history of the United States, as it is currently taught, is being contested like never before. Is it possible to reconcile differing perspectives on America’s national narrative?Panelists: Mark Muller, Elizabeth Rule, and Clint Smith; Chaired by Adam Rothman.Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

About If the lion does not tell his story, the hunter will. The history of the United States, as it is currently taught, is being contested like never before. Is it possible to reconcile differing perspectives on America’s national narrative? Panelists: Mark Muller, Elizabeth Rule, and Clint Smith; Chaired by Adam Rothman. Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

2022 Lannan Symposium | Who Are We & Where Are We Coming From?

Keynote Speech by Melody C. Barnes: "In Search of an Inclusive America: Culture, Politics, and the Narratives That Define Us" on March 22, 2022.About Melody C. BarnesMelody Barnes is executive director of the University of Virginia’s Karsh Institute of Democracy. She is also the J. Wilson Newman Professor of Governance at the Miller Center of Public Affairs and a senior fellow at the Karsh Center for Law &amp; Democracy.Ms. Barnes was Assistant to the President and director of the White House Domestic Policy Council during the Administration of President Barack Obama. Prior to her tenure in the Obama Administration, she was executive vice president for policy at the Center for American Progress and chief counsel to the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Barnes is narrator and host of the podcast, LBJ and the Great Society and co-editor of Community Wealth Building &amp; The Reconstruction of American Democracy.  Ms. Barnes earned her B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she graduated with honors in history and her J.D. from the University of Michigan.Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

Keynote Speech by Melody C. Barnes: "In Search of an Inclusive America: Culture, Politics, and the Narratives That Define Us" on March 22, 2022. About Melody C. Barnes Melody Barnes is executive director of the University of Virginia’s Karsh Institute of Democracy. She is also the J. Wilson Newman Professor of Governance at the Miller Center of Public Affairs and a senior fellow at the Karsh Center for Law &amp; Democracy.Ms. Barnes was Assistant to the President and director of the White House Domestic Policy Council during the Administration of President Barack Obama. Prior to her tenure in the Obama Administration, she was executive vice president for policy at the Center for American Progress and chief counsel to the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Barnes is narrator and host of the podcast, LBJ and the Great Society and co-editor of Community Wealth Building &amp; The Reconstruction of American Democracy.  Ms. Barnes earned her B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she graduated with honors in history and her J.D. from the University of Michigan. Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

Melody C. Barnes | 2022 Lannan Symposium | Keynote Speech

Clips taken from past event The View From Abroad: “What Can America Learn from the Experience of Other Nations at a Time of Crisis?” held on Crowdcast on March 18, 2021.Music: Soundside (royalty free music) — "Violin Inspiration" — Provided by Jamendo.

Clips taken from past event <a href="https://vimeo.com/552931952" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The View From Abroad</a>: “What Can America Learn from the Experience of Other Nations at a Time of Crisis?” held on Crowdcast on March 18, 2021. Music: Soundside (royalty free music) — "Violin Inspiration" — Provided by Jamendo.

Lannan Symposium 2022 Trailer: "The View From Abroad"

Clips taken from past event "Is There Such a Thing as American Exceptionalism?” held at Beyond Borders Scotland on August 29, 2021.Music: AudioInfinity — "Inspirational Piano" — Provided by Jamendo.

Clips taken from past event "Is There Such a Thing as American Exceptionalism?” held at Beyond Borders Scotland on August 29, 2021. Music: AudioInfinity — "Inspirational Piano" — Provided by Jamendo.

Lannan Symposium 2022 Trailer: “Is There Such a Thing as American Exceptionalism?”

Lannan Center Podcast 

Terrance Hayes

On January 21, 2020, the Lannan Center presented a reading and talk featuring poet Terrance Hayes. Terrance Hayes is the author of American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassins (Penguin, 2018), a finalist for the 2018 National Book Award in Poetry; To Float In The Space Between: Drawings and Essays in Conversation with Etheridge Knight (Wave, 2018); How to Be Drawn (2015); Lighthead (2010), which won the 2010 National Book Award for poetry; Muscular Music, which won the Kate Tufts Discovery Award; Hip Logic, winner of the 2001 National Poetry Series, and Wind in a Box. An artist-in-residence at New York University, Hayes currently resides in New York City.Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

On January 21, 2020, the Lannan Center presented a reading and talk featuring poet Terrance Hayes. Terrance Hayes is the author of American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassins (Penguin, 2018), a finalist for the 2018 National Book Award in Poetry; To Float In The Space Between: Drawings and Essays in Conversation with Etheridge Knight (Wave, 2018); How to Be Drawn (2015); Lighthead (2010), which won the 2010 National Book Award for poetry; Muscular Music, which won the Kate Tufts Discovery Award; Hip Logic, winner of the 2001 National Poetry Series, and Wind in a Box. An artist-in-residence at New York University, Hayes currently resides in New York City. Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

Terrance Hayes I 2019-2020 Readings and Talks Series

John Murillo

Tina Chang

On February 25, 2020, the Lannan Center presented a reading and talk featuring poets John Murillo and Tina Chang. Introduction by Patricia Guzman.John Murillo is the author of the poetry collections Up Jump the Boogie (2010), which was a finalist for both the Kate Tufts Discovery Award and the PEN Open Book Award, and Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry, forthcoming from Four Way Books in 2020. His work has appeared in Callaloo, Court Green, Ninth Letter, and Ploughshares, and is forthcoming in Angles of Ascent: A Norton Anthology of African-American Poetry. A graduate of New York University’s MFA program in creative writing, he is an assistant professor of English at Wesleyan University and teaches in the low-residency MFA program at Sierra Nevada College.Tina Chang is the author of the poetry collections Hybrida (2019), Of Gods &amp; Strangers (2011), and Half-Lit Houses (2004). She is co-editor of the anthology Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia and Beyond (2008). Her poems have appeared in American Poet, McSweeney’s, Ploughshares, and The New York Times and anthologized in Identity Lessons, Poetry Nation, Asian American Literature, and Asian American Poetry: The Next Generation, among others. She has received awards from the Academy of American Poets, the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation, the New York Foundation for the Arts, Poets &amp; Writers, and the Van Lier Foundation. Chang is the Poet Laureate of Brooklyn, the first woman named to this position, and she currently teaches poetry at Sarah Lawrence College.Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

On February 25, 2020, the Lannan Center presented a reading and talk featuring poets John Murillo and Tina Chang. Introduction by Patricia Guzman. John Murillo is the author of the poetry collections Up Jump the Boogie (2010), which was a finalist for both the Kate Tufts Discovery Award and the PEN Open Book Award, and Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry, forthcoming from Four Way Books in 2020. His work has appeared in Callaloo, Court Green, Ninth Letter, and Ploughshares, and is forthcoming in Angles of Ascent: A Norton Anthology of African-American Poetry. A graduate of New York University’s MFA program in creative writing, he is an assistant professor of English at Wesleyan University and teaches in the low-residency MFA program at Sierra Nevada College. Tina Chang is the author of the poetry collections Hybrida (2019), Of Gods &amp; Strangers (2011), and Half-Lit Houses (2004). She is co-editor of the anthology Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia and Beyond (2008). Her poems have appeared in American Poet, McSweeney’s, Ploughshares, and The New York Times and anthologized in Identity Lessons, Poetry Nation, Asian American Literature, and Asian American Poetry: The Next Generation, among others. She has received awards from the Academy of American Poets, the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation, the New York Foundation for the Arts, Poets &amp; Writers, and the Van Lier Foundation. Chang is the Poet Laureate of Brooklyn, the first woman named to this position, and she currently teaches poetry at Sarah Lawrence College. Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

John Murillo and Tina Chang I 2019-2020 Readings and Talks Series

Lesley Nneka Arimah

On February 18, 2020, the Lannan Center presented "Power and Language," a special event with Caine Prize winning writer Lesley Nneka Arimah. Welcome: Aminatta Forna (Director of the Lannan Center, Georgetown University). Introduction: Scott Taylor (Director of the African Studies Program, Georgetown University).Lesley Nneka Arimah is the author of “Skinned,” winner of the 2019 Caine Prize for African Writing; What It Means When A Man Falls From the Sky (2017), her debut short story collection; and “Light,” winner of the 2015 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Africa. What It Means When A Man Falls From the Sky was chosen for the New York Times/PBS book club and won both the 2017 New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award and the 2017 Kirkus Prize. Arimah holds a BA in English from Florida State University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Minnesota State University. Currently, Arimah is a 2019 United States Artist Fellow in Writing living in Las Vegas.Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

On February 18, 2020, the Lannan Center presented "Power and Language," a special event with Caine Prize winning writer Lesley Nneka Arimah. Welcome: Aminatta Forna (Director of the Lannan Center, Georgetown University). Introduction: Scott Taylor (Director of the African Studies Program, Georgetown University).Lesley Nneka Arimah is the author of “Skinned,” winner of the 2019 Caine Prize for African Writing; What It Means When A Man Falls From the Sky (2017), her debut short story collection; and “Light,” winner of the 2015 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Africa. What It Means When A Man Falls From the Sky was chosen for the New York Times/PBS book club and won both the 2017 New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award and the 2017 Kirkus Prize. Arimah holds a BA in English from Florida State University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Minnesota State University. Currently, Arimah is a 2019 United States Artist Fellow in Writing living in Las Vegas. Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

"Power and Language" with Caine Prize Winner Lesley Nneka Arimah

Marie Arana

On December 5, 2019, the Lannan Center presented a special event featuring author Juan Gabriel Vásquez. This event was introduced by Aminatta Forna and moderated by Marie Arana.Juan Gabriel Vásquez is the author of numerous novels, including The Shape of the Ruins (2018), which was shortlisted for the 2019 International Man Booker Prize; Reputations (2013), a New York Times Best Book of the Year; and The Sound of Things Falling (2011), a National Bestseller and winner of the 2014 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Vásquez’s novels have been published in twenty-five languages worldwide. After sixteen years in France, Belgium, and Spain, he now lives in Bogotá.Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

On December 5, 2019, the Lannan Center presented a special event featuring author Juan Gabriel Vásquez. This event was introduced by Aminatta Forna and moderated by Marie Arana. Juan Gabriel Vásquez is the author of numerous novels, including The Shape of the Ruins (2018), which was shortlisted for the 2019 International Man Booker Prize; Reputations (2013), a New York Times Best Book of the Year; and The Sound of Things Falling (2011), a National Bestseller and winner of the 2014 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Vásquez’s novels have been published in twenty-five languages worldwide. After sixteen years in France, Belgium, and Spain, he now lives in Bogotá. Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

“Power and Language”: Juan Gabriel Vásquez in Conversation with Marie Arana

Ilya Kaminsky

John James

On September 24, 2019, the Lannan Center presented a reading and talk featuring poets Ilya Kaminsky and John James. Introduced by Aminatta Forna. Ilya Kaminsky is the author of Deaf Republic (Graywolf, 2019) and Dancing In Odessa (Tupelo, 2004). He has also co-edited and co-translated many other books, including Ecco Anthology of International Poetry (Harper Collins) and Dark Elderberry Branch: Poems of Marina Tsvetaeva (Alice James Books). His awards include the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Whiting Writer’s Award, the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Metcalf Award, Lannan Foundation’s Fellowship and the NEA Fellowship. Currently, he holds the Bourne Chair in Poetry at Georgia Institute of Technology and lives in Atlanta.John James is the author of The Milk Hours, selected by Henri Cole for the Max Ritvo Poetry Prize and published in 2019 by Milkweed Editions. His poems appear in Boston Review, Kenyon Review, Gulf Coast, Poetry Northwest, Best American Poetry 2017, and elsewhere, and his work has been supported by fellowships and awards from the Bread Loaf Environmental Writers’ Conference, the Academy of American Poets, and Georgetown’s Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he is pursuing a Ph.D. in English at the University of California, Berkeley.Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

On September 24, 2019, the Lannan Center presented a reading and talk featuring poets Ilya Kaminsky and John James. Introduced by Aminatta Forna. Ilya Kaminsky is the author of Deaf Republic (Graywolf, 2019) and Dancing In Odessa (Tupelo, 2004). He has also co-edited and co-translated many other books, including Ecco Anthology of International Poetry (Harper Collins) and Dark Elderberry Branch: Poems of Marina Tsvetaeva (Alice James Books). His awards include the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Whiting Writer’s Award, the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Metcalf Award, Lannan Foundation’s Fellowship and the NEA Fellowship. Currently, he holds the Bourne Chair in Poetry at Georgia Institute of Technology and lives in Atlanta. John James is the author of The Milk Hours, selected by Henri Cole for the Max Ritvo Poetry Prize and published in 2019 by Milkweed Editions. His poems appear in Boston Review, Kenyon Review, Gulf Coast, Poetry Northwest, Best American Poetry 2017, and elsewhere, and his work has been supported by fellowships and awards from the Bread Loaf Environmental Writers’ Conference, the Academy of American Poets, and Georgetown’s Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he is pursuing a Ph.D. in English at the University of California, Berkeley.Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.

Ilya Kaminsky & John James | 2019-2020 Readings and Talks Series

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