Another Extra-Credit Opportunity

Novelist Elizabeth Nunez to Read From ‘Anna In-Between’
at City Tech Book Signing on November 4, 4 p.m.

Brooklyn, NY — October 14, 2009 — New York City College of Technology (City Tech) will host a book reading and signing by novelist Elizabeth Nunez on Wednesday, November 4, 2009, from 4 to 6 p.m. in the President’s Conference Room, Namm Hall 318, 300 Jay Street (at Tillary), Downtown Brooklyn. Her latest work, Anna In-Between, was published by Akashic Books this past September.

The publisher has called Anna In-Between Nunez’s finest literary achievement to date. In spare prose, with laser-like attention to every word and juxtaposition of words, Nunez returns to her themes of emotional alienation, within the context of class and color discrimination, so richly developed in her earlier novels.

Anna, the novel’s main character, who has a successful publishing career in the U.S., is the daughter of an upper-class Caribbean family. While on vacation in the island home of her birth she discovers that her mother, Beatrice, has breast cancer. Beatrice categorically rejects all efforts to persuade her to go to the U.S. for treatment, even though it is, perhaps, her only chance of survival. Anna and her father, who tries to remain respectful of his wife’s wishes, must convince her to change her mind.

In a convergence of craftsmanship, unflinching honesty, and the ability to universalize the lives of her characters, Nunez tells a story that explores our longing for belonging to a community, the age-old love-repulsion relationship between mother and daughter, the Freudian overtones in the love between daughter and father, and the mutual respect that is essential for a successful marriage. One of the crowning achievements of this novel is that it shines a harsh light on the ambiguous situation of this ruling-class family who rose from the constraints of colonialism to employ their own servants.

Nunez, a Distinguish Professor of English at Medgar Evers College, is an award-winning author of seven novels, including Prospero’s Daughter (New York Times Editors’ Choice; 2006 Novel of the Year, Black Issues Book Review) and Bruised Hibiscus (American Book Award). She is co-editor with Jennifer Sparrow of the anthology Stories from Blue Latitudes: Caribbean Women Writers at Home and Abroad and is executive producer of the 2004 NY Emmy-nominated CUNY TV series Black Writers in America.

O, The Oprah Magazine, credits Nunez’s fiction as being composed of “…lush, lyric cadences and whirlwind narrative, [ that] cast a seductive spell.”

New York City College of Technology (City Tech) of The City University of New York (CUNY) is the largest public college of technology in New York State. Located at 300 Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn, the College enrolls nearly 15,400 students in 60 baccalaureate, associate and specialized certificate programs.

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Billy Collins Lecture about his book, ” Sailing Alone Around the Room: New & Selected Poems”

I actually enjoyed listening to Billy Collins at his appearance at City College. After the Dean introduced him and practically read all of his accomplishments, Mr. Collins went up to the podium and said that sometimes he forgets that he is that man. The one who was a poet laureate of the United States and a 1992 literary lion of the New York public library. He then went on to admire the school and said that if he taught there he would request a classroom with a river view so he could just stare out at the river traffic all class while the students wrote in class writing assignments. He then mentioned a library called, “Poet’s House” and is located at 10 River Terrace. It has Books on Poetry and events specifically dedicated to Poets. He then went on to talk about his Books and he says “If you understood any of those, it’s cause I wanted you to.” He went on to read what he called an optimistic view of the reader. It is called “The portrait of the reader with cereal”.  He then read some more poems like “Grave”, “Ohmygod”, and “My Hero”. He then began to read a poem from his book, “Sailing Alone around the Room: New and Selected Poems”. The poem was entitled “Questions about Angels”. He said that he was quite fond of the ending of this poem and this was just one example of starting a poem without knowing where it will end up. He said that trying to write a poem with an ending in mind is like trying to make a joke around a punch line. It’s hard and it confines the writer. I really liked it when he compared his pen to a flashlight. Lighting the way to discovery in a poem. It is not just a secretary of internal thought but a journey. To the poet, the destination of a poem is the end. But to the reader it is an emotion or a message. He said that making a poem out of practically nothing is just an instinct you develop over time after hitting a lot of dead ends. Instead of finding out what a poem means, ask yourself, “Where does it go? How does it slip and slide? How did it get there?” He said that when he started writing poetry he would make fun of other poems. He said that, “if you’re majoring in English, you’re majoring in death”. Because that is what a lot of poets write about. He then gave a lot of tips on when to write. He said to never write at night because it just feeds your self-absorption because you think you are the only one up. He also said not to put pressure on yourself when you are in the midst of writing. He said that if anyone presses with interpretation on any of his poems they will fall apart like tissue paper. After that he took question from the audience. One woman asked if it is cheating to end a poem with a question. He said it is not cheating. That in fact, all poems really end in questions. That the poet is only allowed 3 exclamation points in their writing lifetime but have an infinite amount of question marks. Another woman asked if his poetry was page or performance. What’s the difference? Meaning if they were meant to be written or read. He answered by saying, “I write for the paper. I read in a deadpan because I’m reading as if I were a page”. But at the end of it he said something I especially liked.

“99% of song lyrics don’t hold up on page. And the question, ‘are song lyrics poetry?’ is quickly answered by first of all getting all the musicians off the stage and the three girls with the red short dresses, the back up girls. They have to leave and everything has to be unplugged and get all the instruments off the stage and then come up to the microphone with a piece of paper with your lyrics on it and read it out loud for us. And it will not hold up. It will not be of interest. But it doesn’t have to be of interest. You know? It’s a song lyric. It’s meant to be accompanied by music. Whereas a poem is its own music. It is accompanied by its own music. It’s own sonic or Acoustic effects.”

 

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Reading by Lorna Goodison on Tuesday, 10/20

See below or click for information about Lorna Goodison reading at City Tech on Tuesday at 1:00.  As with the Billy Collins event listed in the prior blog post, if you attend this reading and write a blog post–at least 300 words–about the reading, I will excuse one extra absence from our class, or offer extra credit–a extra 100% grade averaged into your quiz grade–if attendance is not an issue for you.  This is something you might want to consider as we approach midsemester evaluations and grades.

Reading by Lorna Goodison, Poet and Artist

Goodison teaches poetry at the University of Michigan and is the author of several books, including the memoir From Harvey River, described by The New York Times Book Review as “captivating.” Her widely anthologized work appears in The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, HarperCollins World Reader, Vintage Book of Contemporary World Poetry, among others. For more information, contact Camille Goodison, City Tech Department of English, cgoodison@citytech.cuny.edu.

Date:

October 20, 2009

Time:

1:00 PM – 2:15 PM

College:

New York City College of Technology

Address:

300 Jay Street
Brooklyn

Building:

Atrium

Room:

Amphitheatre

Phone:

718.260.4973

Website:

–

Admission:

Free

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Billy Collins reading at City College 10/19!

What a fortuitous confluence of events!  One of the two poets we’re reading for Monday’s class is reading on Monday evening!  See below or click for information about Billy Collins reading from his new book at City College.  If you attend this reading and write a blog post–at least 300 words–about the reading, I will excuse one extra absence from our class, or offer extra credit–a extra 100% grade averaged into your quiz grade–if attendance is not an issue for you.  This is something you might want to consider as we approach midsemester evaluations and grades.

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Book Talk: Lecture Series

Billy Collins, Former U.S. Poet Laureate, New York Poet and Distinguished Professor at Lehman College discusses his book: Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems

Date:

October 19, 2009

Time:

6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

College:

City College

Address:

25 Broadway 7th Floor,
Manhattan, New York 10004

Building:

–

Room:

–

Phone:

2129256625 x241

Website:

http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/cwe

Admission:

Free

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