Author to Speak on Poetics, Conflict, and the Middle East, Nov 4

Carlos David

Leonard Schwartz

Author and professor Leonard Schwartz, Evergreen State College, will visit the University of Arkansas to promote his new book The New Babel: Toward a Poetics of the Mid-East Crises (University of Arkansas Press 2016), offering a guest lecture and a writer's workshop to the Fayetteville campus community.

His lecture, entitled "The Poetics of Conversation: Translation, Power, and the New Babel" will discuss his recent publication.  The New Babel evokes and investigates — from a Jewish American perspective and in the forms of poetry, essays, and interviews — the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, America's involvement as both perpetrator and victim of events in the Middle East and Afghanistan, and the multiple ways that poetics can respond to political imperatives. The lecture will take place at 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, in room 325 in Old Main, and is free and open to the public.

Following his lecture, Schwartz will offer a writing workshop entitled "Writing from The Black of the Page," with suggestions for students interested in writing a poetry or a prose that negotiates the political, sometimes in covert form. The workshop will take place at 3 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 4, in room 325 in Old Main. Participation is free, but seating is limited; please use this form to register or contact Nani Verzon at hverzon@uark.edu.

In addition to his campus appearances, Schwartz will speak at the Fayetteville Public Library at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, at a University of Arkansas Press Author Showcase.

Leonard Schwartz is the author of numerous books of criticism and poetry, including A Flicker at the Edge of Things, Language as Responsibility, Gnostic Blessing, The Tower of Diverse Shores, A Message Back and Other Furors, At Element, The Library of Seven Readings, and If. He is also the host of the radio program Cross Cultural Poetics, which features interviews with poets, thinkers, performers, and artists from all over the world. He teaches poetics at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.

About the King Fahd Center for Middle East Studies:
The King Fahd Center for Middle East Studies is an academic and research unit in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas. An interdisciplinary and interdepartmental area studies center that offers diverse cultural, intellectual, and educational opportunities for the University of Arkansas community, the Center promotes research and teaching in interdisciplinary Middle East Studies.  The Center offers an undergraduate major in Middle East Studies through the Middle East Studies (MEST) Program and supports graduate studies in related departments with graduate assistantships.  The Center also awards competitive grants for summer language study, field research, and conference travel, and routinely sponsors lectures and other programming by visiting scholars from affiliated universities and programs.  More information about the King Fahd Center can be found at http://mest.uark.edu.  For ongoing news, follow the Center on Facebook and Twitter.