Join us on Thursday, April 11 at 7pm PT when John Shoptaw celebrates the release of his poetry collection, Near-Earth Object, with Jenny Odell at 9th Ave!Masks Encouraged for In-Person Attendance
Or watch online/Livestream link available soon
About Near-Earth Object
In Near-Earth Object, Shoptaw explores the interactions, sometimes dark and sometimes joyful, between humans and the non-human natural world. Resisting the human exceptionalism that in its many forms can block imaginative access to the world, Shoptaw entertains the perspectives of a host of others: a cricket, a bat, a nuthatch, a carnival bear, a tree’s shade, cherubim, an asteroid, and Earth herself.
Of Near-Earth Object, Shoptaw said, “I take up difficult and painful topics such as global meltdown and animal abuse, without ever giving up either pleasure or hope. Here, I practice what I like to call a poetics of impurity. I am wary of absolutes, and attempt to make the best of things in the messy world of the relative, the partial, the gradual, and the mixed.”
Patrick Davis, publisher at Unbound Edition Press, said, “John’s remarkable work is formally attuned, entirely accessible, and urgently relevant. His ecopoetics, on full display in Near-Earth Object, propel a vital voice for our challenging times.” The collection was acquired for the press by the acclaimed poet and literary critic, Peter Campion, who serves as executive editor. Near-Earth Object is presently scheduled for publication on in April 2024, in celebration of National Poetry Month.
John Shoptaw teaches in the UC Berkeley English Department. He is the author of On the Outside Looking Out: John Ashbery’s Poetry,the libretto for Eric Sawyer’s opera Our American Cousin (Boston Modern Orchestra Project), and a number of essays on poetry and poetics, including “Why Ecopoetry?” (Poetry).
About John Shoptaw
John Shoptaw, a leading voice in ecopoetics, is widely published in many of the most respected literary journals and magazines, including Arion, Kenyon Review, The New Yorker, and Poetry. His first poetry collection, Times Beach (2015), won the Notre Dame Review Book Prize and the Northern California Book Award in Poetry.
About Jenny Odell
Jenny Odell is a multidisciplinary artist and author. Her first book How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy was the New York Times bestseller. Her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times, Sierra magazine, and other publications. She lives in Oakland, California.
Event Venue
1231 9th Ave, San Francisco, CA, United States, California 94122