The Department of Writing is pleased to present essayist Eliot Weinberger, a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist in criticism, as part of the Distinguished Visiting Writers Series. He will read from his work on Tuesday, April 13th at 7:30 p.m. in Klingenstein Lounge, Egbert Hall. His reading is free and open to everyone.
Eliot Weinberger is an essayist, editor, and translator. His books of literary writing include Oranges and Peanuts for Sale, An Elemental Thing, and Karmic Traces. His political articles are collected in 9/12, What I Heard About Iraq, and What Happened Here: Bush Chronicles, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism and selected for the Times Literary Supplement’s "International Books of the Year." Of What I Heard About Iraq, The Guardian wrote, "Every war has its classic antiwar book, and here is Iraq’s."
Weinberger is also a leading translator of Latin American poetry and his first published book, at the age of 19, was a translation of poetry by the Nobel Prize winner Octavio Paz. He has also edited anthologies of classical Chinese poetry and translated work of poets such as Bei Dao. In 1992, Weinberger was the first recipient of the PEN/Kolovakos Award for his promotion of Hispanic literature in the United States. In 2000, he became the only American literary writer to be awarded the Order of the Aztec Eagle by the government of Mexico.
Weinberger's knowledgeable essays encompass wide subject matter, such as MTV and Icelandic sagas, saints and poets, precolonial India and the civil war in Rwanda. Innovatively exploring the potential of the essay genre, many of his texts, while strictly non-fiction, are closer to prose poetry or narrative than traditional essays. "His work," writes the Times Literary Supplement, "makes you sit up in your seat."
Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations and those seeking more information on the Distinguished Visiting Writers Series should contact Jack Wang, Assistant Professor in the Department of Writing, at 607-274-3493 or wang@ithaca.edu. We ask that requests for accommodations be made as soon as possible.
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20100412174730919