News from the Division of Languages and Literature

Distinguished Writer in Residence Teju Cole reflects on the ethical implications of displaying found photographs of African Americans in the age of digital photo tagging.

On Thursday, April 21, Bard College will host a celebratory reading in honor of the work of Ann Lauterbach, David and Ruth Schwab Professor of Languages and Literature, member of the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts faculty, and the renowned author of Under the Sign; Or to Begin Again (National Book Award nominee); Hum; If in Time: Selected Poems 1975–2000; The Night Sky: Writings on the Poetics of Experience; and other books. Poet John Ashbery, Charles P. Stevenson Professor Emeritus of Languages and Literature, writes, “Ann Lauterbach’s poetry goes straight to the elastic, infinite core of time.” Celebrating Lauterbach’s work will be poets Jibade-Khalil Huffman ’03, Simone White, Michael Ives, Camille Guthrie, and Anselm Berrigan, who will briefly discuss their artistic relationship to Lauterbach’s influential oeuvre. The evening will culminate with Lauterbach reading her own work.

Acclaimed Somali writer and Bard professor Nuruddin Farah discusses his novel Maps as part of the World Service’s Identity Season​.

Poet, translator, and novelist Idra Novey discusses her new novel and the importance of literary dialogue outside of traditional academic settings.

Professor Joseph Luzzi breaks the code of The Divine Comedy and justifies its importance outside of the college and high school classroom.

Bard College and Simon's Rock faculty member, poet, and translator of German literature Peter Filkins has recently had two of his works reviewed. His translation of H.G. Adler's novel The Wall was reviewed in the London Review of Books, and his edition of a collection of Adler's essays, Orthodoxie des Herzens, was reviewed in the Times Literary Supplement.

"Death camps in civilization" in the Times Literary Supplement | PDF

"The crematorium is a zoo" in the London Review of Books | PDF

On Thursday, April 14, celebrated poet and art critic Roberto Tejada will read from his work at Bard College. The reading is presented by the John Ashbery Poetry Series. Poet Alan Gilbert says, “Tejada’s work is with dismantling borders and upsetting classifications. The result is a layered poetry that finds its form in dense stanzas composed of lines that frequently veer toward a kind of fractured prose.” Introduced by Ann Lauterbach, David and Ruth Schwab Professor of Languages and Literature at Bard, this event takes place at 6:00 p.m. in the Bard Chapel of the Holy Innocents. It is free and open to the public; no tickets or reservations are required.

On Monday, April 18, award-winning author Eli Gottlieb will read from Best Boy, his new novel about autism, memory, and redemption. The New Yorker finds Best Boy “arresting ... The book’s empathy is bracing.” Celebrated writer Cynthia Ozick says, “I’ve fallen in love with Best Boy, touched by its delicacy and fearless truths.” A short documentary film featuring Gottlieb’s brother, the model for the protagonist of Best Boy, will be screened at the start of the reading. Gottlieb will be introduced by novelist and Bard literature professor Bradford Morrow. The reading, presented as part of Morrow’s Innovative Contemporary Fiction Reading Series, takes place at 2:30 p.m. in Weis Cinema, Bertelsmann Campus Center, and will be followed by a Q&A. The event is free and open to the public; no reservations are required.

The "Shakespeare-steeped" poetry of distinguished poet, Bard College alumnus, and former Bard faculty member Anthony Hecht '44 is praised in the New Criterion.

Wyatt Mason discusses literary authenticity in Maylis de Kerangal’s new novel, The Heart.

"How do we know when a photographer caters to life and not to some previous prejudice?" Cole challenges the viewer to take a critical look at the iconic photography of Steve McCurry.

Long Soldier is noted by the award committee for her "trenchant, beautiful ... writing about the relationship between official political speech and literature’s capacity to write back."

Cole Heinowitz talks about translating the poetry of Mario Santiago Papasquiaro in the new collection of his work, Beauty Is Our Spiritual Guernica.

Bard College announces the appointment of esteemed writer Dinaw Mengestu as professor of written arts and director of the Written Arts Program. Mengestu, who joins the faculty in fall 2016, will teach fiction workshops, among other courses, through the Division of Languages and Literature. In his role as director, Mengestu will provide leadership in the Written Arts Program, whose core faculty comprises distinguished writers of poetry, fiction, drama, and nonfiction—including Mary Caponegro, Teju Cole, Robert Kelly, Porochista Khakpour, Ann Lauterbach, Joseph O’Neill, Luc Sante, and Mona Simpson, among many others.

On Monday, April 4, Rick Moody—the celebrated author of Garden State, The Ice Storm, The Ring of Brightest Angels Around Heaven, Purple America, The Black Veil: A Memoir with Digressions, and other books—reads from his new novel, Hotels of North America. The Wall Street Journal writes, “Rick Moody is one of the most prodigiously talented writers in America.” Moody will be introduced by novelist and Bard literature professor Bradford Morrow. The reading, presented as part of Morrow’s Innovative Contemporary Fiction Reading Series, takes place at 2:30 p.m. in Weis Cinema, Bertelsmann Campus Center, and will be followed by a Q&A. The event is free and open to the public; no reservations are required.

On Thursday, March 31, celebrated poet Michael Ives, visiting assistant professor of the humanities at Bard, will read from his work. The reading is presented by the John Ashbery Poetry Series. A jazz musician, an innovator in the field of text in performance, and recipient of the Academy of American Poets Prize and Lillian Fairchild Award, Ives is also the founding member and composer of the sound/text performance trio F’loom and the author of Wavetable (Dr. Cicero Books) and The External Combustion Engine (Futurepoem). 

Pulitzer Prize–winning Indian American author Jhumpa Lahiri moves her family to Rome to pursue a love affair with the Italian language.

On March 3, The Other Stories visited Bard to record and podcast a live reading by Bard student writers. Listen to works by Johanna Costigan '17, Cleo Egnal '17, and Anna Sones '18.

Derek Furr, Master of Arts in Teaching Program director and associate professor of literature, discusses Semitones, a collection of poetry and short fiction.

The sixth annual Berkshire Festival of Women Writers will offer 33 events spanning nine days, and will host approximately 1,000 audience members across numerous Berkshire venues, March 12–20.

Professor Manea is visiting Bard College Berlin and gave a talk at the German Marshall Fund on migration, globalization, and exile.

Language and Thinking faculty member Bruce Watson's Light: A Radiant History from Creation to the Quantum Age is "a delightful journey."

"Worm Loves Worm ... brilliantly explores the idea of love between two beings, regardless of gender (or species) and despite societal ­pressures."

"Han’s glorious treatments of agency, personal choice, submission and subversion find form in the parable," writes Porochista Khakpour, visiting writer in residence.

Celia Bland, international coordinator for the Institute for Writing and Thinking, reflects on how the strong character of Jane Eyre influenced her as a young girl.

The writer and critic reveals his nostalgia for an older Paris, mourns the city's disappearing café culture, and touches on the urban defects of neoliberalism.

On Thursday, February 25, award-winning author Luc Sante, visiting professor of writing and photography at Bard College, will read from his most recent book, The Other Paris. Presented by Bard’s Written Arts Program, the reading takes place at 7:00 p.m. in Bard Hall, and is free and open to the public; no tickets or reservations are required. Books will be available for sale and signing from Oblong Books & Music. 

Writer in Residence Francine Prose offers a pop quiz about the romantic works she's most enjoyed discussing with her students in literature classes.

Alexandra Kleeman, Bard Fiction Prize winner and writer in residence at Bard College, will read from her work on Monday, February 15. Free and open to the public, the reading begins at 7 p.m. in the László Z. Bitó ’60 Auditorium in Bard’s Reem-Kayden Center. Kleeman received the 2016 Bard Fiction Prize for her debut novel You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine (Harper 2015). The Bard Fiction Prize committee writes: "Alexandra Kleeman’s You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine wraps a nightmare inside absurdity. It is a novel of alienation, paranoia, anxiety, and dread that puts a smile on your face."

Hilary Kaplan, faculty in the Language and Thinking Program and the Bard Prison Initiative, has been nominated for her translation of Rilke Shake by Angélica Freitas.

Writer in Residence Wyatt Mason reviews Moroccan-born author Laila Lalami's new novel, The Moor's Account.

Writer in Residence Francine Prose discusses her latest novel, Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932, as well as love, storytelling, and how to read like a writer.

"Many writers—myself included—attempt to solve this quandary by telling themselves that writing truthfully and well, or trying to write truthfully and well, is itself a political act," writes Prose.

Bard College professor Robert Kelly has been appointed Dutchess County’s first poet laureate. Kelly will read two poems at the State of the County Address, which County Executive Marc Molinaro is scheduled to deliver on Wednesday, January 27 at 5:30 p.m. at the Bardavon 1869 Opera House in Poughkeepsie.

Robert Kelly, Asher B. Edelman Professor of Literature and codirector of the Written Arts Program, has been named Dutchess County’s first poet laureate.

Bard MFA alumna Robin Coste Lewis discusses her book Voyage of the Sable Venus, which won the National Book Award last year.

Eight Bard alumni/ae are involved in the production of Bieber Bathos Elegy, created by Felix Bernstein '13, which will premiere at the Whitney Museum in New York City on January 15. This hybrid work by New York–based artist, poet, and writer Bernstein combines musical performance, poetry, cabaret drag, and opera to explore the concept of bathos—the failure to achieve pathos—and illuminate issues of identity and persona through the character of Justin Bieber. The work is directed by Gabe Rubin '14 with assistant director Clara Lipfert MFA '18, composed by Rron Karahoda '13, with production design by George Dupont '14 and sound design by Cammisa Buerhaus MFA '18, and features musical performances by Leila Bordreuil '13 and Lazar Bozic '14.

John Ashbery tells the story of his lifelong fascination with French culture, and how the arts, literature, and people of that country influenced his work as writer and translator.

"Luc Sante’s fascinating guide to the squalid, disorderly, dank, thrilling, dangerous underside of the Paris of the past makes for a suitably sprawling book."

Thomas Keenan, director of Bard's Human Rights Program, comments on the recently released high-quality drone footage of Islamic State targets in Iraq taken by the Italian Air Force.

Stephen Shore is one of a number of artists who have been successful at conventional photography and now use Instagram as a sort of extra studio, writes Teju Cole.

Layli Long Soldier has been awarded a 2015 Lannan Literary Fellowship for Poetry. She resides in Tsaile, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation and is an English faculty member at Diné College.

Stacy Schiff reviews Letters to Véra, Vladimir Nabokov's letters to his wife, edited and translated from the Russian by Bard professor Olga Voronina and Brian Boyd.

Luc Sante's The Other Paris is Times Higher Education's Book of the Week. "Beneath a bourgeois veneer is a secret history of defunct jobs and fascinating lives."

Hudson Valley Magazine interviewed Bard alumna and La Voz editor Mariel Fiori for their December Women in Business issue.

Logue's Homer, "because of its radical departures, gets us closer to the original than many more defensibly 'faithful' translations have ever managed."

At 15 years old, Bard writer in residence Francine Prose took a job in Bellevue Hospital’s morgue, where her doctor parents hoped she would turn her interests from writing to science.

Conjunctions:65, Sleights of Hand—the latest issue of the innovative literary magazine published by Bard College—gathers a wide spectrum of essays, fiction, and poetry on the subject of deception, exploring a world in which truth is a most fragile, elaborate, and mercurial thing. Edited by Conjunctions editor, novelist, and Bard literature professor Bradford Morrow, Sleights of Hand includes new work from such leading contemporary writers as James Morrow, Laura van den Berg, Porochista Khakpour, Can Xue, Joyce Carol Oates, Edie Meidav, Eleni Sikelianos, Terese Svoboda, Yannick Murphy, Peter Straub, and Paul West, among others.

Professor Ian Buruma has been described as “one of the few remaining ‘public intellectuals’."

These famous comic book authors become the heroes of their own stories in upcoming memoirs.