Hello, everyone.
My name is Julie, I work here at the Poetry Center,
and I have the pleasure of introducing
Ander Monson this afternoon.
Ander is a builder of things.
He builds, he tunnels, he links, he
creates worlds inside worlds.
Now please don't get me wrong.
This is not an introduction which
poses as a recruitment offer for the entire cult following,
but what I mean to say is, I think Ander's work speaks
to his own notion that inside everything there
is another thing.
Inside each self, there is another.
From these lines serving as an introduction of sorts
to his most recently published collection of essays vanishing
point and the website that accompanies it.
Ander satisfies the obsessive need as writers--
no, as observers, as catalogers, as note takers,
as human beings to trace pathways of thought
to create worlds.
His worlds force us into the directional pull
of prepositions as we navigate space.
Worlds ensue words: about, above, across, after, against,
around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside,
besides, between, beyond, by, down, during, except, for,
from, in, insight, into, like, near, up, off, out, on,
outside, over, sense, through, throughout, till, to, toward,
under, until, up, upon, with, or, without until the sense
of meaning, a depiction of the self emerges.
Ander's work seems to ask of us an underlying question.
Perhaps it is the guerilla tactic for any writer.
How far can we travel through?
How many loopholes across how many wires
and over how many bridges?
Until we finally crawl out, dust ourselves off, look around
and recognize what's truly available to us.
Perhaps after the journey through these worlds
the question is, how do we take that information and live?
So I'll be taking signups for the Ander cult
following after the presentation.
But in the meantime, please enjoy and help me
welcome Ander Monson.
[APPLAUSE]