Friday February 28, 6pm: Difficult Fruit
Poet Lauren K. Alleyne presentation and book release for her new poetry collection, Difficult Fruit. Moderated by Catherine Chung and featuring guest writers David Mura, Anastacia Tolbert, Dawn Lonsinger, and Patricia Smith. In conjunction with the Annual AWP Conference.
Transformation is the heart of Lauren K. Alleyne’s debut collection of poetry, Difficult Fruit. In these poems, bodies transform to smoke; passion becomes love, then memory; a girl flowers into womanhood; and innocence becomes knowledge. This launch event celebrates another transformative event--the publication of this collection of poems. The program, hosted by Catherine Chung, will feature readings by Lauren K. Alleyne, and the mentors and friends, who in one way or another nurtured the seeds that became Difficult Fruit.
About the Presenters:
Lauren K. Alleyne is a native of Trinidad and Tobago. She received her Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from Cornell University and is currently the Poet-in-Residence and an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Dubuque. She has been published in several journals and anthologies, including Crab Orchard Review, The Cimarron Review, Black Arts Quarterly, The Caribbean Writer, The Belleview Literary Review, Growing Up Girl and Gathering Ground. Difficult Fruit( Peepal Tree Press) is her first collection.
Dawn Lonsinger is the author of Whelm (2012 Idaho Poetry Prize winner), the linoleum crop (Jeanne Duval), and The Nested Object (Dancing Girl Press). Her work has appeared in American Poetry Review, Colorado Review, Black Warrior Review, Guernica, Best New Poets 2010, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA from Cornell University and a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Utah and is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Muhlenberg College.
David Mura’s newest poetry book is The Last Incantations. His other poetry books are Angels for the Burning, The Colors of Desire (Carl Sandburg Literary Award), After We Lost Our Way (a National Poetry Contest winner). His memoirs are Turning Japanese, which won an award from the Oakland PEN and was in the New York Times Notable Books of Year, and Where the Body Meets Memory. His novel is Famous Suicides of the Japanese Empire.
Patricia Smith is the author of six books of poetry, including Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah, winner of the 2013 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets and Blood Dazzler, a finalist for the National Book Award. Her work has appeared in Poetry, The Paris Review, TriQuarterly, and in Best American Poetry, Best American Essays and Best American Mystery Stories. Patricia is a professor at CUNY and an instructor in the MFA program at Sierra Nevada College.
Anastacia Tolbert is a writer, Cave Canem Fellow, Hedgebrook Alumna, VONA Alum and Artist Trust EDGE Program Graduate. She is the recipient of the 2004 San Diego Journalism Press Club Award for the article "War Torn." She is writer, co-director, and co-producer of GOTBREAST? (2007), a documentary about the views of women regarding breast and body image. Her poetry, fiction and nonfiction have been published widely.