Name as Fundamental Pattern

January 15, 2021
Splabman

Ian Boyden Reads from A Forest of Names

Join Ian Boyden for a reading of poems from A Forest of Names: 108 Meditations, a collection of poems translating the names of schoolchildren killed in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. 5,196 schoolchildren were killed when their schools collapsed on them. Boyden spent a year translating their names and contemplating what these names reveal about who we are and what it is we value. This reading will be structured around the word , pronounced wén​—an incredibly important word for which we have no exact translation. The word comes up again and again in the names of these children. How did it come to be so important? What is revealed about culture and hopes for the future based on the names the children are asked to carry? Not only is “wen” central to many of these children’s names, but it is also central to the place and geography where they lived, even the name of the earthquake itself. The reading, hosted by the Seattle Poetics Lab, will last about 45 minutes and be followed by a Q&A.

Friday, January 22, 7pm PST
Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2064225002

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

dashed cool colors line

You May Also Like

Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs Sociology Interview

Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs Sociology Interview

In the interview, Gutiérrez y Muhs discusses her journey from child farmworker to a professor with multiple degrees from multiple institutions, including Stanford University and Occidental College, and explains the values she learned from her working class background that she was able to incorporate later into academia. She also mentions her role as the 2018-2020 Theiline Pigott McCone Endowed Chair in the Humanities at Seattle University and her role as editor for Presumed Incompetent, both positions allowing her to focus on uplifting Chicanx and Latinx voices and highlight experiences of unequal treatment for POC, queer and working class people in academia.

Cascadian Zen to be Featured @ Winekraft & Time Enough Books

Cascadian Zen to be Featured @ Winekraft & Time Enough Books

To celebrate the release of their omnibus anthology Cascadian Zen: Writings from Cascadia in the Here and Now, Vol. I, Watershed Press, the Seattle-based nonprofit Cascadia Poetics Lab is holding two waterfront readings on the Lower Columbia: at Winekraft in Astoria...

Success of 2023 Cascadia Poetry Festival 7

Success of 2023 Cascadia Poetry Festival 7

Cascadia Poetry Festival 7 This year's Cascadia Poetry Festival was a great success, thanks to participants, volunteers, sponsors. The festival featured the long anticipated launch of Cascadian Zen Volume I, a collection of poetry, essays, interviews, and art that...