Cole Swensen and Eric Baus read from recent and forthcoming work Thursday as part of the FELIX series here at UW-Madison. A spirited Q&A followed the readings and the turnout was large. This bodes well for the remainder of the season. Eric and Cole have generously given me permission to air selections from their readings in upcoming Wordsalad programs.
FELIX: A Series of New Writing
Thursday, September 20 – 4:30 p.m.
126 Memorial Library, UW-Madison campus
The fall semester’s FELIX event features Eric Baus and Cole Swensen.
Baus is the editor of Minus House chapbooks and the author of a number of publications and chapbooks including The To Sound and The Space Between Magnets. His latest chapbook, Tuned Droves, is forthcoming. He won the 2002 Verse Prize and his poems have appeared in Verse, Hambone, First Intensity and Colorado Review.
Swensen is the author of eleven books of poetry, the latest of which, The Glass Age, was published January 2007. She has won numerous awards including the San Francisco Poetry Center Book Award, two Pushcart Prizes and a National Poetry Series selection. She has also received numerous grants for translating and writing and is the founder of La Presse, which publishes contemporary French poetry in translation. She teaches at the University of Iowa in the Writers’ Workshop and divides her time between Iowa, Washington D.C. and Paris.
Named after Felix Pollak (1909–1987), poet and former curator of Special Collections, this reading series invites original, young writers in the area to provide a forum for conversation on the evolution of “little magazines” and their role in literary culture.
In New York for a few days of vacation, I stopped in at Bar 13 to see the Louder Arts collective in action. (Thanks for the suggestion, Mongo!). It was great to meet some of the poets I’ve heard on record, including emily kagan, rachel mckibbens, and lynne procope.
Last night’s show was emceed by geoff trenchard who managed the open mic with humor and wit.
Poets were to read one piece by someone else, then perform one of their own. Many read work by Jason Schneiderman.
The Headliner was Boston’s amazing adam stone.
Then Seattle’s danny sherrard finished the evening.
I’m hoping to see many of them next August when Madison hosts the Slam Nationals.
