Of Hoopoes and Dybbuks: Lunchtime Poetry Reading with Ewa Chrusciel

Date: 

Monday, April 2, 2018, 12:00pm to 1:00pm

Location: 

CSWR Common Room

Hoopoes

Ewa Chrusciel’s writing revolves around the issues of dislocation, immigration, exile, and cross-cultural desire. Her migratory poems and narratives are distinctly errant. They're haunted by a childhood lived under a Communist regime, by the austerity of Eastern block politics, and by the possibility of discovering a fleeting language in whose very excesses are carried the seeds of illicit revelation, spiritual transformation and ethnic insight. In her newest book, Of Annunciations, Chrusciel maps the biblical event of annunciation onto the current migration crises. Her book investigates the question, "What does it mean to say “yes” to a stranger?" Through prayer, lament, and lullaby, Chrusciel attempts to give voice to the voiceless and find healing in what seems to be an insurmountable rift of dislocation.

Ewa Chrusciel is a poet and a translator. She has three books of poems in English: Of Annunciations (Omnidawn, 2017), Contraband of Hoopoe (Omnidawn, 2014), and Strata (Omnidawn, 2018, reprint), as well as three books in Polish: TobołekSopiłki, and Furkot. She is Associate Professor of Humanities at Colby-Sawyer College.

Lunch will be provided.