Purchase College Presents an Evening With Ben Lerner

The Purchase College, SUNY, School of Humanities will present An Evening with Ben Lerner: A Lecture, Reading, and Conversation on Thursday, February 26, 2015, from 4:30 - 6:00 p.m. The event—which is free and open to the public—will take place in the Neuberger Museum Study at Purchase College (735 Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, NY).

A poet, novelist, essayist, and teacher, Ben Lerner has published three collections of poetry and two novels, all to great acclaim. Angle of Yaw, his second book of poetry, was a finalist for the National Book Award and Leaving the Atocha Station​, his first novel, won the Believer Book Award.

“We are very fortunate to have an endowment from the Durst family, long-time benefactors of Purchase College, to support the Durst Distinguished Lecture Series,” says Louise Yelin, Purchase College professor of literature. “These programs place the world’s most important authors front and center at Purchase, further establishing the college as a preeminent venue for writing in the region.”

This semester, the Durst Lectures feature Ben Lerner on February 26 and Colson Whitehead on March 19.  Illustrious writers who have visited in the past include Alison Bechdel, Tim O’Brien, Junot Díaz, Sharon Olds, Art Spiegelman, and Jhumpa Lahiri. 

According to Suzanne Kessler, vice provost for academic affairs and dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Purchase College, “The Shirley and Royal Durst Chair in Literature has allowed us to enrich our curriculum by bringing globally recognized writers to Purchase—where they meet with small groups of students as well as addressing the larger community.”

Anthony Domestico, assistant professor of literature at Purchase College, adds, “Ben Lerner is one of contemporary literature​'s most powerful and versatile voices. His novels are loosely plotted but compellingly readable, philosophically rich yet incredibly funny. Each circles around a central subject: what it is like to be a young, smart, occasionally slackerish but always ambitious writer in the early 21st century.”

A generous gift from the late Shirley Durst established an endowed fund to support the Durst Chair in Literature, awarded to notable professors whose work bridges literature and the visual or performing arts, as well as the Durst Distinguished Lecture Series. This contribution has greatly benefited Purchase College’s School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, School of Humanities, and Literature program.

For more information on the Durst lectures, please visit:  http://news.purchase.edu/feb-26-an-evening-with-ben-lerner or call 914.251.6550.

 

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Submitted by Westport, CT

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