STERN
STAFF REPORT
One of America’s “most celebrated and irascible poets” is set to bring his humor and tragic vision to Kyle this week.
Acclaimed, 87-year-old writer Gerald Stern has been praised for his passionate defense of human emotions and needs, according to the nonprofit Poetry Foundation.
BIO
Stern was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1925, taught for many years at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and has written nearly 20 books of poetry and three essay collections.
“The son of Eastern European immigrants, Stern’s poetry frequently references his all-American, working-class upbringing as well as his Jewish and Eastern European heritage. Cosmopolitan, even international in scope, and yet deeply personal, Stern’s work is known for its passionate defense of human emotions and needs.” — The Poetry Foundation
INTIMATE AND ECSTATIC
“His poems are not only great poems, memorable ones, but ones that get into your heart and stay there. Their lyrical ecstasies take you up for that moment so that your vision is changed, you are changed. The voice is intimate, someone unafraid to be imperfect.” — Toi Derricotte, poet
AWARDS
His honors include the Wallace Stevens Award, a National Book Award, Paris Review’s Bernard F. Conners Award, the Bess Hokin Award from Poetry, the Ruth Lilly Prize, four National Endowment for the Arts grants, the Pennsylvania Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, the Jerome J. Shestack Poetry Prize from American Poetry Review, and a number of fellowships.
IF YOU GO
What: Stern is scheduled to read from his work in Kyle.
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 20
Where: Katherine Anne Porter Literary Center, 508 W. Center St.
Cost: Free and open to the public
