New American Writing: Rae Armantrout & Rachel Loden

Rae Armantrout is a professor of writing in the literature department at UCSD and the author of ten books of poetry, including Versed, Next Life, which was selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the best poetry books of 2007, and Up to Speed, also selected by Publishers Weekly as one of the best poetry books of the year. She has received awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Fund for Poetry, and the California Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship. Rachel Loden is the author of Dick of the Dead, which came out in May, 2009. Her first book, Hotel Imperium, was selected as one of the ten best poetry books of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle, which called it “quirky and beguiling.” Awards include two appearances in the Best American Poetry series, a Pushcart Prize, a Fellowship in Poetry from the California Arts Council, and a grant from the Fund for Poetry.

This series of contemporary fiction and poetry readings is organized by Benjamin Weissman, author of two books of short fiction, most recently Headless, and professor of creative writing at Art Center College of Design and Otis College of Art and Design.