Poetry Reading by Nicholas Benson
The Hickory Stick Bookshop is excited to welcome author Nicholas Benson who will be reading from his latest book of poetry “I Commissioned Some Wooden Luggage” on Sunday, June 29th at 2 pm.
ABOUT THE BOOK
While backpacking in Europe as a teenager in the 1980s, Nick Benson stumbled on a window display in a Venetian gallery that caught his eye: it featured a beautifully carved duffle-bag sculpted from wood, complete with drawers. For the itinerant Benson, this objet d'art was a source of fascination: "you could keep your travel bag by your bed and be ready to go, but it could also be a useful piece of furniture...I would have commissioned some wooden luggage, if not for the price tag... instead it became a metaphor and took on a life of its own. I didn't realize it then, but it's the embodiment of wanting opposing things at once. It seems to sum up this permanent sense of duality-rootedness and restlessness".
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nicholas Benson, son of a US diplomat, was born in West Germany in 1966 and grew up in Yugoslavia, Turkey, and the USSR. He holds a PhD in Italian (New York University, 1999) and an MFA in Writing (Vermont College of Fine Arts, 2009).
A cup of coffee and a book of poetry…Benson is an English teacher at the Frederick Gunn School in Washington. He also translates Italian literature (poetry, books, a short novel). He loves cooking, and he loves coffee. Since 2007, he has been roasting his own coffee beans. He turned his passion for coffee into a business, and now he is a micro-roaster. He has a loyal following in Litchfield County.
Author photograph – Mike Yamin.
PRAISE FOR THE BOOK
“Benson’s poems are a mixture of wit and sorrow, satire and self-reckoning, urban pastoral and epigram; they manifest themselves in a myriad of inventive forms, including experiments with line, collage, and poetic sequence-making. They are cosmopolitan, urbane, and just plain damn smart poems.” — David Wojahn
“A terrific poet, Benson’s poems range from a kind of Whitmanesque vision as he tries to visit an old Jewish graveyard in NY to intense lyrics that as he says in one poem, would ‘rescue your breaking heart.’ This is a poet and translator with a wide range of talents.” — Richard Jackson
This event is free and open to the public. If you are unable to attend this event, you may reserve copies of “I Commissioned Some Wooden Luggage” by calling The Hickory Stick Bookshop at (860) 868 0525, or shop our website 24/7 at www.hickorystickbookshop.com.
