Associate Professor of English and Poet-in-Residence Adrienne Su will read from her latest book of poems, Living Quarters, on Thursday, April 2, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Whistlestop Bookshop, an independent bookseller near the Dickinson campus at 129 West High Street. Following the reading, Su will sign copies of her book.
Su is the author of four books of poems, including Middle Kingdom, Sanctuary and Having None of It. Her poems appear in anthologies such as The Hungry Ear, The New American Poets, Asian American Poetry: The Next Generation and Best American Poetry 2013. Her awards include a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, a Pushcart Prize and residencies at colonies such as Yaddo, MacDowell, the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, The Frost Place and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Mass.
Living Quarters uses both the structure of a domestic space and the rhythms of the seasons to seek, but not reliably find, order and consolation in life’s seeming disorder. Relationships dissolve; deaths come too soon; the past vanishes; the earth that gives beautiful and nourishing foods swallows up the creatures for whom it provides. These poems struggle with that mix of affirmation and destruction, celebrating nature’s generosity while trying to make peace with its cruelty.
In addition to the poetry reading, senior Ann Fogler ’15 will perform an excerpt from her upcoming senior recital, which will include Nicholas Cardelia ’15's setting of Su's poem, On Writing, which appeared in Best American Poetry 2013. Fogler’s April 11 recital also will include works by Donizetti, Saint-Saëns, Laitman and Mozart. A young composer pursuing his bachelors of arts in music, Cardelia is currently studying under Douglas Buchanan, a contributing faculty member in music.
Published April 1, 2015