Poetry & Art 2012 Hosted by Michael Klam Features Ilya Kaminsky and Katie Farris

SDSU professors, and husband and wife, Ilya Kaminsky and Katie Farris will read on Friday, March 23 at 7 p.m. in the Museum of the Living Artist, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. Members free, $5 at the door or bring a snack/wine to share.

Kaminsky’s imagination has been described as “a poetic talent of rare and beautiful proportions.” His book, “Dancing In Odessa” (Tupelo Press, 2004), won the American

Academy of Arts and Letters’ Metcalf Award, the Dorset Prize, and the Ruth Lilly Fellowship given annually by Poetry magazine.

In 2009, poems from Kaminsky’s “Deaf Republic” were awarded Poetry magazine’s Levinson Prize. Writing in English and Russian, Kaminsky has been Writer In Residence at several institutions, including Harvard.

Farris’ most recent book of short stories, “BOYSGIRLS,” is a visceral trip through the fairy tale genre for adults. From metamorphosis to Cyclops, devils, freaks, lions, a boy with one wing, the invention of love, Farris channels Henry Miller and Anais Nin in a new zeitgeist, re-creating the fairy tale aesthetic originally intended for big kids.

The husband and wife team will present among the paintings. There will be music and snacks as usual, and please bring some wine or treats to share if you’d like.

If you are a writer or painter and would like to share a few pieces of your work, we will open the microphone following the reading.

Please contact host, Michael Klam, with any questions: 619-957-3264 (cell) or 619-236-0011 (museum). If you would like to read on the open mic, you can sign up ahead of time at mkklam@gmail.com or before the reading.  Please visit sandiego-art.org for more info.

More info about Ilya Kaminsky can be found at ilyakaminsky.com. Katie Farris reviews and excerpts can be read at katiefarris.net. For info about Rae Armantrout (coming in May) and her Pulitzer Prize-winning book “Versed,” see versedreader.site.wesleyan.edu.

Pulitzer Prize-winning UCSD poet Rae Armantrout will read on Wednesday, May 2.