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Mackey to give reading
Poet to open ’Exhibit X Fiction’ series on Nov. 15
By PATRICIA DONOVAN
Contributing Editor
Unique, brilliant, exceptional in a hundred ways, poet, novelist and critic Nathaniel Mackey will inaugurate the UB English department's 2007-08 "Exhibit X Fiction" series on Nov. 15 with a 7 p.m. reading at Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, 341 Delaware Ave., Buffalo.
NATHANIEL
MACKEY
The reading is 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."
"Mackey is nationally and internationally acclaimed for his extraordinary scholarly and creative accomplishments in many fields," says series director Christina Milletti, assistant professor of English. "Writers, musicians, scholars—all celebrate the uniqueness and artistic distinction of his writing. His use of language is so brilliant."
Dimitri Anastasopoulos, 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, and 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."
Mackey 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 last year won the National Book Award for his poetry collection "Splay Anthem."
He also has written two volumes of literary criticism and for 30 years has 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. Mazza, who will give a reading in February, has published more than a dozen books of fiction, including the critically acclaimed "Is it Sexual Harassment Yet?" and the Pen Nelson Algren Award-winning "How to Leave a Country." She teaches at the Program for Writers at the University of Illinois-Chicago.
The series also will present Laurence Norfolk, who in 1993 was declared "Best Young British Novelist." Norfolk, who will come to Buffalo in April, will give a talk on the contemporary fiction markets in the UK and U.S., meet with students to talk about the writing process and give a reading. He writes historical novels marked by complex plots, intricate detail and an unusually large vocabulary. His works include "Lampriere's Dictionary," "The Pope's Rhinoceroses" and "In the Shape of a Boar."