Ben Meyerson’s book launch
17 Oct 2023 - 17:30 / 17 Oct 2023 - 20:00
Ben Meyerson’s book launch
We are pleased to invite you to Ben Meyerson’s book launch, where he will be reading from his poetry collection Seguiriyas. The event will take place on Tuesday, October 17th from 5:30pm until 8:00pm in the Massey College Common Room, 4 Devonshire Place, Toronto. Readings will begin at 6:00pm and will also feature poets A.F. Moritz and Fan Wu. The book will be on sale for a discounted price of $20 (cash only) and refreshments will be served.
About the book
In Seguiriyas—which derives its title from the flamenco palo (or “song form”) of the same name—Ben Meyerson picks paths through the reverberations of diaspora, displacement, and transit. Meyerson’s poems travel between his upbringing in an Ashkenazi Jewish family in Toronto and his time spent plumbing the historical tensions that animate Andalusian culture. Amid the pull of diaspora and dispersion, Meyerson assembles an array of reference points ranging from flamenco performance to the history of the Roma in Spain, medieval Iberian poetry, rock music, and the echoes of Jewish ritual practice. Seguiriyas does not seek to neatly arrange the pluralities that it observes; rather, it moves in their wake, offering a form of careful attention and vibrant song.
About the author
Ben Meyerson is a PhD candidate at University of Toronto’s Centre for Comparative Literature. He holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Minnesota and an MA in philosophy from the Universidad de Sevilla. His poems, essays and translations have been published in a variety of journals in both English and Spanish, and he is the author of five prior chapbooks: Near Enough (Seven Kitchens Press, 2023), After Boabdil (The Alfred Gustav Press, 2023), An Ecology of the Void (Above/Ground Press, 2019), Holcocene (Kelsay Books, 2018) and In A Past Life (The Alfred Gustav Press, 2016). Seguiriyas (Black Ocean, 2023) is his debut full-length poetry collection.
