Jessica Pressman, “Electronic Literature: Literary Studies in/of the 21^st-Century”
Coe College February 21, 2013 4:00pm Kessler Lecture hall

Sally Keith & Dan Quick– Thurs. Feb. 21, 2013 7:00 pm

Poets Sally Keith and Dan Beachy-Quick will read from their work. Sally   Keith’s most recent book is Fact of the Matter. Moving from the mundane to the profound, first through observation of fact and matter, then shifting perspective, engaging a deeper sense of self, these poems re-imagine things great and small, making us care deeply about the world around us. “Through contemporary voices and timeless contexts, these haunting poems fracture–then rebuild–lyric expectations.”  — Eleni Sikelianos

Dan Beachy-Quick is the author, most recently, of Wonderful Investigations: Essays, Meditations and Tales. David L Ulin, writing in the L.A. Times, says that “Wonderful Investigations juxtaposes four essays with three ‘meditations’ and four fable-like ‘tales’ to trace the tension between mind and body, between our inner and our outer lives. A poet, (Beachy-Quick) is terrific with an image and relies on antecedents here from Plato to Thoreau to give his work a context and a depth.” And, Susan Salter Reynolds says, “This is a book about reading. It offers the kinds of insights into the act that most of us never stop to indulge in, and for that we are eternally grateful.”

Ayna Mathis–Monday, Feb. 25, 7:00 pm The Englert Theatre
Ayana Mathis will read from her extraordinary first novel, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie. In a sweeping tale that moves forward and backward in time across sixty years in Georgia and Philadelphia, Mathis gives us the story of an unforgettable family—and an indomitable woman—caught in singular moment in American history.

Dina Nayeri– Tues. Feb. 26th, 7:00pm Prarie Lights

Dina Nayeri will read from A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea, a magical novel about  a young Iranian woman lifted from grief by her powerful imagination and love of Western culture. Fascinated with America in 1980s Iran, Saba Hafezi  becomes convinced that her suddenly missing mother and twin sister have departed for America without her, a situation that compels her to envision her twin’s Western life throughout subsequent years.

James McKean– Wednesday Feb. 27, 7:00 Prarie Lights

Iowa City Poet James McKean will read from his new collection of poetry, We Are the Bus, winner of the 2011 X.J. The 42  poems in this vivid collection travel the world from Hat Island in the Puget Sound to Oaxaca’s zocalo to the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica. In language simple, precise and musical, the poems revisit the complexities of growing up and moving on. “These poems are palpable pleasure.” — Naomi Shihab Nye

Voicebox– Friday March 1, 7:00pm Brewed Cafe (New Bo location) $5 cover