The Writing Seminars Presents: A Turnbull Lecture by Robin Coste Lewis

Description

Join Robin Coste Lewis for a lecture and reading followed by a Q&A. The Zoom link to attend can be found online.

Lewis's debut poetry collection, Voyage of the Sable Venus, won the National Book Award in poetry––the first time a poetry debut by an African-American had ever won the prize in the National Book Foundation's history, and the first time any debut had won the award since 1974. Critics called the collection "A masterpiece…" "Surpassing imagination, maturity, and aesthetic dazzle…" "remarkable hopefulness…in the face of what would make most rage and/or collapse…" "formally polished, emotionally raw, and wholly exquisite." Voyage of the Sable Venus was also a finalist for LA Times Book Prize, the Hurston- Wright Award, and the California Book Award. The Paris Review, The New Yorker, The New York Times, BuzzFeed, and Entropy Magazine all named Voyage one of the best poetry collections of the year. Flavorwire named the collection one of the 10 must-read books about art. And Literary Hub named Voyage one of the "Most Important Books of the Last Twenty Years." A former Poet Laureate of Los Angeles, Lewis' laureateship focused on truth and reconciliation projects dealing with the city's history.

The Turnbull Lectures have a long and distinguished tradition; recent speakers include Christopher Ricks, Terrance Hayes, and Alice Oswald.