WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.900 align:middle line:90%


00:00:03.900 --> 00:00:07.430 align:middle line:84%
In regards to the relationship
between emotion and perception,

00:00:07.430 --> 00:00:09.583 align:middle line:90%
Charles Olson wrote--

00:00:09.583 --> 00:00:11.750 align:middle line:84%
and this is all in caps,
saying that it's important.

00:00:11.750 --> 00:00:13.970 align:middle line:84%
"One perception must
immediately and directly

00:00:13.970 --> 00:00:15.830 align:middle line:90%
lead to a further perception.

00:00:15.830 --> 00:00:18.830 align:middle line:84%
It means exactly what it says,
is a matter of, at all points,

00:00:18.830 --> 00:00:20.450 align:middle line:84%
get on with it, keep
moving, keep in,

00:00:20.450 --> 00:00:23.330 align:middle line:84%
speed, the nerves, their
speed, the perceptions, theirs,

00:00:23.330 --> 00:00:26.150 align:middle line:84%
the acts, the split second
acts, the whole business,

00:00:26.150 --> 00:00:29.330 align:middle line:84%
keep it moving as fast
as you can, citizen."

00:00:29.330 --> 00:00:32.130 align:middle line:84%
Olson's quote captures both
the speed and the excitement

00:00:32.130 --> 00:00:35.180 align:middle line:84%
that characterizes the poems in
Ben Lerner's first two books,

00:00:35.180 --> 00:00:37.340 align:middle line:84%
The Lichtenberg Figures
and Angle of Yaw.

00:00:37.340 --> 00:00:39.920 align:middle line:84%
Both of these volumes work
loosely with received forms--

00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:42.110 align:middle line:84%
the sonnet in one, the
prose poem in another.

00:00:42.110 --> 00:00:44.000 align:middle line:90%
Each poem is carefully plotted.

00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:46.948 align:middle line:84%
There's always a clear, logical
progression, fractal-like,

00:00:46.948 --> 00:00:48.740 align:middle line:84%
branching away from
the general to the very

00:00:48.740 --> 00:00:51.380 align:middle line:84%
specific with
razor-sharp precision.

00:00:51.380 --> 00:00:54.050 align:middle line:84%
Each poem collected
in his first two books

00:00:54.050 --> 00:00:57.710 align:middle line:84%
is cut, is sort of
pasted, to accomplish

00:00:57.710 --> 00:00:59.570 align:middle line:90%
everything a great poem should.

00:00:59.570 --> 00:01:01.970 align:middle line:84%
They entertain,
they please the ear,

00:01:01.970 --> 00:01:04.310 align:middle line:84%
but more importantly,
they transmit emotion,

00:01:04.310 --> 00:01:06.620 align:middle line:90%
and they inform.

00:01:06.620 --> 00:01:08.990 align:middle line:84%
It's borrowed from the
title of this first book.

00:01:08.990 --> 00:01:11.370 align:middle line:84%
Each of his poems is a
different Lichtenberg figure,

00:01:11.370 --> 00:01:13.382 align:middle line:84%
which is a fern-like
pattern that's

00:01:13.382 --> 00:01:14.840 align:middle line:84%
generated by high
amounts of energy

00:01:14.840 --> 00:01:18.660 align:middle line:84%
traveling through
insulating material.

00:01:18.660 --> 00:01:20.360 align:middle line:84%
But if you go
through-- if you follow

00:01:20.360 --> 00:01:23.360 align:middle line:84%
one branch of the design, you
uncover the poet's thoughts.

00:01:23.360 --> 00:01:25.940 align:middle line:84%
Follow another, you'll find
yourself immersed in narrative,

00:01:25.940 --> 00:01:28.610 align:middle line:84%
and really interesting stuff
like taking ice from a hospital

00:01:28.610 --> 00:01:31.570 align:middle line:84%
dumpster to build a snowman,
or watching as a baby

00:01:31.570 --> 00:01:36.710 align:middle line:84%
manages to find and more
importantly, strike a match.

00:01:36.710 --> 00:01:39.080 align:middle line:84%
Follow another, and you're
provided with the lens--

00:01:39.080 --> 00:01:42.350 align:middle line:84%
this is most important-- to
examine not only yourself,

00:01:42.350 --> 00:01:44.780 align:middle line:84%
but also the culture
that you live in.

00:01:44.780 --> 00:01:47.210 align:middle line:84%
The intricate swiftness of
his diction, the musicality

00:01:47.210 --> 00:01:49.620 align:middle line:84%
scored through both
thought as well as sound,

00:01:49.620 --> 00:01:51.470 align:middle line:84%
the energy of his
work are all hallmarks

00:01:51.470 --> 00:01:53.720 align:middle line:84%
of his gorgeously
innovative stuff, where

00:01:53.720 --> 00:01:57.800 align:middle line:84%
lyric shifts away from solely
existing in the realm of sound,

00:01:57.800 --> 00:02:00.590 align:middle line:84%
and finds itself in
a realm of thought.

00:02:00.590 --> 00:02:03.470 align:middle line:84%
His is a poetry of total
perception, perception

00:02:03.470 --> 00:02:05.300 align:middle line:90%
in both meaning and music.

00:02:05.300 --> 00:02:08.030 align:middle line:84%
Ben has already succeeded in
the task which most poets will

00:02:08.030 --> 00:02:09.440 align:middle line:90%
never accomplish.

00:02:09.440 --> 00:02:11.480 align:middle line:90%
His poems embody the present.

00:02:11.480 --> 00:02:14.807 align:middle line:84%
They reflect us, as
we are, here and now.

00:02:14.807 --> 00:02:16.640 align:middle line:84%
Ben Lerner has published
two books of poetry

00:02:16.640 --> 00:02:17.870 align:middle line:90%
with Copper Canyon Press.

00:02:17.870 --> 00:02:19.370 align:middle line:84%
He received the
Hayden Carruth Award

00:02:19.370 --> 00:02:21.398 align:middle line:84%
for his first book, The
Lichtenberg Figures,

00:02:21.398 --> 00:02:22.940 align:middle line:84%
which was also in
the Library Journal

00:02:22.940 --> 00:02:25.280 align:middle line:84%
as 12 best books
of poetry for 2004,

00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:26.870 align:middle line:84%
and his second
book, Angle of Yaw,

00:02:26.870 --> 00:02:29.030 align:middle line:84%
was a finalist for the
National Book Award.

00:02:29.030 --> 00:02:32.210 align:middle line:84%
His poems have been anthologized
in Best American Poetry

00:02:32.210 --> 00:02:35.030 align:middle line:84%
and Gertrude Stein Awards in
Innovative American Poetry,

00:02:35.030 --> 00:02:37.950 align:middle line:84%
as well as having appeared
in many other publications.

00:02:37.950 --> 00:02:41.510 align:middle line:84%
Ben holds both a BA in political
theory and an MFA from Brown.

00:02:41.510 --> 00:02:43.952 align:middle line:84%
He is also the recipient
of a Fulbright scholarship.

00:02:43.952 --> 00:02:46.160 align:middle line:84%
He currently teaches at the
University of Pittsburgh,

00:02:46.160 --> 00:02:48.570 align:middle line:84%
and co-edits No: A
Journal of the Arts.

00:02:48.570 --> 00:02:50.570 align:middle line:84%
It's with the greatest
pleasure that I introduce

00:02:50.570 --> 00:02:52.430 align:middle line:84%
to you one of our country's
most exciting new voices,

00:02:52.430 --> 00:02:53.060 align:middle line:90%
Ben Lerner.

00:02:53.060 --> 00:02:56.410 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]

00:02:56.410 --> 00:03:01.000 align:middle line:90%