May 22, 2016: Mary Jo Bang, 4 pm

One of the New York Times Book Review‘s Best Poetry Books of 2015
One of Flavorwire‘s Best Independent Press Books of 2015
Featured in Volta‘s “Best Books of 2015” by C.D. Wright
One of Entropy‘s Best Poetry Books of 2015

Author of seven poetry volumes and a warmly received translation of Dante’s The Inferno, KPS is pleased to welcome award-winning poet Mary Jo Bang. Poetry critic Marjorie Perloff calls Mary Jo Bang “one of the finest poets of her generation.” Her newest collection, The Last Two Seconds (Graywolf, 2015) has been hailed for its “sharp imagination and brutal honesty.” Elegy (Graywolf, 2007), a New York Times Notable Book and winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, is an account of the year following her son’s untimely death. Bang’s unusual route to the profession of poet included the study of sociology, photography and medicine. These diverse experiences have clearly served her poetry well: She has earned such honors as two Alice Fay di Castignola Awards, the “Discovery”/The Nation Award, a Pushcart Prize, and fellowships from the Guggenheim and the Bellagio Foundations. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Columbia.

“Bang can be an ingenious phrase maker, startling English out of its idiomatic slumber with subtle, deliberate awkwardness.” ―NYT Book Review

“[Bang’s work] bridges a gap between an experimental tradition in American poetry and an older high lyric tradition.” ―Publishers Weekly

“In focusing on time, Bang also blurs it, summoning authors, artists, and ideas from across history into often rapturous design. . . . A lively, lovely poetry forward thinking.”—The Boston Globe