About
The Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies is honored to welcome poet Chris Martin to the Tower View Barn on Friday, October 15, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. for a public reading as part of the Books in the Barn series. General admission tickets are $5 for the public and free for Anderson Center members and youth under 18.
Chris Martin is the author of The Falling Down Dance (Coffee House, 2015), winner of the 2016 Midwest Independent Booksellers Choice Award; Becoming Weather (Coffee House, 2011); and American Music (Copper Canyon, 2007), chosen by C.D. Wright for the Hayden Carruth Award. He is also the author of several poetry chapbooks, including HISTORY (Coffee House, 2014), enough (Ugly Duckling, 2012), and How to Write a Mistake-ist Poem (Brave Men, 2011).
His newest book, Things to Do in Hell (Coffee House, 2020), probes the tension between protesting lunatic politicians and picking up the kids from school, mourning a dying Earth and making soup, combating white supremacy and loving our dear ones.
In 2015, Martin cofounded Unrestricted Interest, a consultancy and writing program dedicated to transforming the lives of kids and adults on the autism spectrum through poetry and song. As Martin told MinnPost, “I considered my earlier attempts to stay alive while writing a miserable failure. So I happened into teaching and discovered I really enjoyed it, especially working with kids on the autism spectrum. I brought poetry into my teaching and it became natural to combine the two things. That changed the way I looked at poetry in my own life,” he says. “At times I had wondered how to justify what seems to many like a hobby. It wasn’t a hobby to me — it was everything. When I saw how it could help kids communicate and learn, I thought, ‘Why not write poetry?’ Everyone benefits from it.”
Martin’s poems have been performed by dancers, musicians, filmmakers, and guerrilla readers in the Minneapolis skyways. In 2009, the Poetry Society of America recognized him as one of their biannual New American Poets. He has served as Writer-in-Residence at the Minnesota History Center and as a Bartos Fellow at United World College. He has been a writer-in-residence at the Minnesota History Center’s Gale Library, a Bartos fellow at United World College, a reader-in-residence at the South Minneapolis Society Library, and the recipient of a 2017 NEA grant for poetry. He was a visiting assistant professor at Carleton College in 2016, and he teaches at The Loft Literary Center. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife, the poet Mary Austin Speaker, and their two children.
Books in the Barn is a three-part reading series, sponsored by the Xcel Energy Foundation, that offers a wide-ranging look at the work of contemporary writers. Through diverse forms and world-views, each brings a sense of connection to place and the impact of landscape on storytelling and identity. Each writer is also presenting an outreach event in the Red Wing community, providing further opportunities to share their work with a broader audience. Books will be available for purchase and signing following each reading.
NOTICE: All patrons must provide proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test at the door prior to the event. Phone photos of vaccination cards will be accepted. Further precautions may be taken pending state and county health guidelines.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
ASL interpretation is available upon request. To request interpretation, please contact Stephanie at [email protected] or 651-388-2009 at least two weeks prior to the event.
Sponsored by Xcel Energy Foundation