2007-08 UB "Exhibit X Fiction" Series Will Open with a Bang

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Unique, brilliant, exceptional in a hundred ways, poet, novelist and critic and Nathaniel Mackey will inaugurate the 2007-08 University at Buffalo Department of English "Exhibit X Fiction" series on Nov. 15 with a 7 p.m. reading in Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, 341 Delaware Ave., Buffalo.

The reading will be free and open to the public.

In keeping with the UB tradition of fostering avant-garde fiction writers and poets, "Exhibit X Fiction" showcases writers of innovative and experimental fictions and this event is the first to be co-sponsored with the UB Poetics Program's "Poetics Plus" Reading Series.

Series director Christina Miletti, Ph.D., UB assistant professor of English, says, "Mackey is nationally and internationally acclaimed for his extraordinary scholarly and creative accomplishments in many fields. Writers, musicians, scholars -- all celebrate the uniqueness and artistic distinction of his writing. His use of language is so brilliant."

Dimitri Anastasopoulos, Ph.D., UB assistant professor of English, who co-directs the series, refers to Mackey's remarkable prose style as one that "insinuates a kind of written synesthesia, a tendency to mix and meld the senses.

"For instance," he says, "in his novel 'Djbot Baghostus's Run,' Mackey's narrator, N. reflects, 'To see was not only to hear but to hear and feel and experience touch with such immediate translation into sight and sound as to be blessed with a mixed gift, a mixed-metaphorical blend: braille-extended ear, drum-extended eye, synaesthetic limb.'"

Mackey's fiction, poetry, and essays range across continents, revive and mix music, myths and rituals, and infuse what might still be called "Western culture" with such traditions as those of the Caribbean, Andalusia, North Africa, says Anastasopoulos.

In fact, Nathaniel Mackey's eight books of poetry are critically regarded as among the most innovative works of American experimental writing. His 1985 book, "Eroding Witness," was selected for publication in the prestigious National Poetry Series and in 1993 he received a Whiting Writer's Award, presented to "emerging writers of exceptional talent and promise."

In 2001 Mackey, professor of literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz, was elected to the Board of Chancellors of the Academy of American Poets in 2001, one of the highest honors in the field of poetry, and won the National Book Award last year for his poetry collection "Splay Anthem."

He has also written two volumes of literary criticism and for 30 years, has also served as editor of the literary journal Hambone, which brings together diverse strands of innovative work from both established and emerging writers

"In prior years, we've concentrated on young writers at the outset of their careers," Milletti says, "but this year we're expanding our programming to include established novelists."

The 2007-08 series also will feature Cris Mazza, master of the psychological novel, whose work has evolved to consider the impact of unique local characteristics of landscape, society and culture on specific human experiences. She is the acclaimed author of "Waterbaby: A Novel," "Indigenous: Growing Up in California," "How to Leave a Country," "Many Ways To Get It, Many Ways To Say It" and other novels.

The series also will present a reading by Laurence Norfolk, who in 1993, was declared "Best Young British Novelist." Norfolk writes historical novels marked by complex plots, intricate detail and an unusually large vocabulary, will also be a featured reader in the Exhibition X series. He is the award-winning author of "Lampriere's Dictionary," "The Pope's Rhinoceroses and "In the Shape of a Boar."