Poet Philip Memmer will provide the next installment of the Raymond Carver Reading Series on Wednesday, Nov. 3, when he will read from his latest collection of poems, “Lucifer: A Hagiography” (Lost Horse Press, 2009)—a book-length poem that retells the Lucifer story in a very different fashion—and will also read from some of his other poems and second book, “Threat of Pleasure” (Word Press, 2008).
Memmer is the author of three books of poems—“Lucifer;” “Threat of Pleasure,” which won the 2008 Adirondack Literary Award in Poetry; and “Sweetheart, Baby, Darling” (Word Press 2004). His work has appeared in many journals, including Poetry, Epoch and Mid-American Review, and in several anthologies, including “180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Every Day,” “Don’t Leave Hungry: Fifty Years of Southern Poetry Review,” and “I Go to the Ruined Place: Contemporary Poems in Defense of Global Human Rights.” He is founder and director of the YMCA’s Downtown Writer’s Center in Syracuse, and associate editor for Tiger Bark Press.
Named for the great short story writer and poet who taught at SU in the 1980s, the Raymond Carver Reading Series is a vital part of Syracuse’s literary life. Presented by the M.F.A. program in creative writing in Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences, the series each year brings six fiction writers and six poets to campus to read their works and to interact with students. Each event begins with a Q- and A-session at 3:45 p.m. and is followed by an author reading and book signing at 5:30 p.m. All activities take place in Gifford Auditorium in H.B. Crouse Hall, and are free and open to the public. Parking is available in SU pay lots. For more information, call (315) 443-2174.
