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March 30, 1998
UCSC's Creative Writing Program has grown in recent years to become the nucleus of a talented and increasingly acclaimed cluster of poets and novelists. Four core faculty in the program, all of whom have published new work in the past year, will come together for the first time for a special evening of poetry and fiction readings on Thursday, April 9.
This literary quartet is a presentation of the Humanities Lecture Series, sponsored jointly by UCSC's Humanities Division and the Museum of Art and History. It takes place from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Museum of Art and History at the McPherson Center, 705 Front St., Santa Cruz. The reading is free and open to the public. A reception follows.
The faculty who will read from their works are:
One of the country's most celebrated young poets, Gizzi (photo) has received a
number of awards, including the prestigious Lavan Younger Poets Award in
1994. Gizzi's second collection of poetry, Artificial
Heart (see book review), was released in March--the first of three due out this spring.
The others are The House that Jack Built: The Collected Lectures of
Jack Spicer and An Anthology of New (American) Poets, which
includes a section on Gizzi. Among his other publications are Periplum
(1992) and the chapbooks, Hours of the Book (1994) and Music
for Films (1992). Previous editing projects include o-blek: a journal
of language arts (1987-93) and the international literary anthology
Exact Change Yearbook (1995). Gizzi teaches creative writing and
literature at UCSC.
Read Gizzi's poems, Tous
les Matins or How
to Care for a Small Bird.
Poet and novelist Nathaniel Mackey has authored nearly a dozen books
and monographs and is the recipient of a 1993 Whiting Writers' Award. His
interest in jazz and African culture informs his critically acclaimed work.
His publications include Whatsaid
Serif (his third book of poems, due out later this spring); Song
of the Andoumboulou 18-20 (1994); School of Udhra (1993); Djbot
Baghostus's Run (1993); Bedouin Hornbook (1986); Eroding
Witness (1985); and Discrepant Engagement: Dissonance, Cross-Culturality,
and Experimental Writing (1993). His compact disc recording Strick:
Song of the Andoumboulou 16-25 (1995) presents him reading his work
accompanied by musicians Royal Hartigan and Hafez Modirzadeh. Mackey edits
the literary journal Hambone and is coeditor of Moment's Notice:
Jazz in Poetry and Prose (1993). He teaches creative writing and African American,
contemporary, and experimental literature at UCSC.
Read Song
of the Andoumboulou: 23.
Micah Perks
Perks's first novel, We Are Gathered Here (book review), was published in 1997. Her short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies and literary magazines, including Anyone Is Possible, Southwest Review, American Voice, and Epoch. Her first published story, in Epoch magazine, was nominated for the prestigious Pushcart Prize. Perks is currently writing a memoir about her childhood on a commune in the Adirondacks. She teaches fiction writing and women's literature at UCSC.
Yamashita, a novelist, is the author of Through the Arc of the Rain Forest (1990), which won an American Book Award in 1991; Brazil-Maru (book review) (1992); and Tropic of Orange (1997). Before coming to the campus, she was in Japan on a fellowship from the Japan Foundation, conducting research on Japan's Brazilian community. Yamashita is teaching fiction and Asian American literature at UCSC.