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Writers at Sonoma Fall 2013 Season

SSU’s annual literary reading series, Writers at Sonoma brings nationally and internationally known writers to campus and the larger community.  All readings are free and open to the public.

Voices from the Postmodern American Poetry Anthology

Tuesday, October 15, 2013, 7:00 PM Weill Hall, Green Music Center

A postmodern American poetry fest offering an unusual array of literary voices will be staged at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 15 in Weill Hall at Sonoma State University as part of the Writers at Sonoma series. Later in the year, prize-winning nonfiction writer Katy Butler discusses her work on Nov. 12.

Celebrating W.W. Norton’s second edition of its Postmodern American Poetry Anthology, the Oct. 15 event includes short readings by 16 poets whose works are included in the collection. The evening promises to be a dynamic sampling of a wide range of work from poets Will Alexander, Maxine Chernoff, Norma Cole, Gillian Conoley (SSU Professor of Creative Writing),Clark Coolidge, Kathleen Fraser. C.S. Giscombe, Lyn Hejinian, Andrew Joron, Joseph Lease, Michael McClure, Laura Moriarty, Rusty Morrison, Stephen Ratcliffe, Elizabeth Robinson and Aaron Shurin.

A discussion with anthology editor and poet Paul Hoover and poet Lyn Hejinian precedes the reading from 5-6 p.m. in Schulz 3001. Scholar, writer, and SSU English professor Anne Goldman facilitates the discussion.

The new edition of this groundbreaking anthology revisits post-modernism as a 21st-century movement and features 114 poets, 557 poems, and 15 poetics essays.

Bringing together foundational postmodern poets like Charles Olson, Denise Levertov, and Allen Ginsberg with new voices like Christian Bok, Kenneth Goldsmith, and Katie Degentesh, this edition of Postmodern American Poetry is considered the essential collection for a new generation of readers.

Publisher's Weekly proclaimed “The range here is stunning, from Olson’s panoramic histories to Frank O’Hara’s chatty cityscapes to Lyn Hejinian’s bottomless autobiography…This will be an essential book for students and serious fans of poetry.”

A talk with Anthology Editor and Poet Paul Hoover and Poet Lyn Hejinian will precede the reading. Schulz Library 3001. Talk facilitated by scholar, writer, and SSU Professor Anne Goldman.

Reading and talk are made possible by Instructionally Related Activities, the Nadenia Newkirk Foundation for Writers, and SSU’s two literary magazines, Zaum and Volt. Free and open to the public.

For more information on the anthology, visit Postmodern American Poetry - a Norton Anthology.

Katy Butler's Memoir and Investigative Reporting

Writers at Sonoma presents a second event of the fall semester with prize-winning science writer Katy Butler, at 7 p.m. on Nov. 12 in Weill Hall. Butler's work often combines memoir and investigative reporting. She came to widespread national attention in 2010 when her essay, "What Broke My Father's Heart: How a Pacemaker Wrecked Our Family's Life," was published in 2010 in the New York Times Magazine.

A "most emailed" story for many days, it ignited an internet firestorm among baby boomers caring for aging parents, many of them taken by its provocative thesis that advanced medicine, in its quest for maximum longevity, is amplifying suffering near the end of life.

She was a finalist for a National Magazine Award in 2004, and has received top national journalism prizes and honors from the National Association of Science Writers, the Association of Health Care Journalists, Mental Health America, and other organizations.

Her new book is Knocking On Heaven's Door: Our Parents, Their Doctors, and a Better Way of Death (Scribner, September 2013.)

These readings and talks are made possible by Instructionally Related Activities, the Nadenia Newkirk Foundation for Writers, and SSU’s two literary magazines, Zaum and Volt.

For further information, contact Gillian Conoley, Professor of Creative Writing, (707) 664-3919, gillian.conoley@sonoma.edu.