As part of the Autumn Term Creative Writing Reading Series

University of Kent Paris School of Arts and Culture

Proudly presents Jon Thompson reading from his new poetry work Strange Country

Fascinated by strangeness that’s made in the U.S.A – its beliefs and organization, its affinity for violence and its elusive relationship with the past – Strange Country (Shearsman 2016) lyrically addresses itself to defining American landscapes/dreamscapes, and to their unaccountable beauty.

“In Strange Country Jon Thompson addresses the voices, amongst others, of ‘the traffic of fear’, and bids their speakers join the living…The accomplishment of Strange Country begins with the exact measure of its line and its discovered idiom in the face of what may well be termed the present contradictions of a strange country…Here we find the places of a shared identity where history is disguised, lost, or made into fun for all the family. This is a discovery conveyed in a poetry which not only discloses new meanings for these American places, but also bears the darker episodes of a history usually processed off the screen and page.” – Kelvin Corcoran

Jon Thompson is a Professor of English at North Carolina State University where he teaches courses in twentieth-century/contemporary American and British literature. He maintains a particular interest in contemporary poetry and poetics. His current work comes out of his career as a poet, critic and editor. He is the founding editor of the international online journal Free Verse: A Journal of Contemporary Poetry & Poetics, launched in 2001 and also the editor of the single-author poetry series, Free Verse Editions, launched in 2005.

Thursday 17 November 2016

6.30pm at Reid Hall, Grande Salle

4 rue de Chevreuse, Montparnasse, Paris 75006 (Métro: Vavin)

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