Note
to editors and reporters: To arrange an interview with John Siddique or to attend the
reading or workshops, please contact the Cal State L.A. Public Affairs
office at (323) 343-3050 in advance.
RECITAL
to take readers on a poetic journey
UK poet John
Siddique launches new book of poems at Cal State L.A.
Los Angeles, CA – This year’s
British Council USA UK Writer-in-Residence at California
State University, Los Angeles, John Siddique, presents a free
poetry reading, “RECITAL: A Year in Our Lives,” Thursday, May 21,
6:30 p.m., at the Arena Theatre on the Cal State L.A. campus.
Cal State L.A. will be the U.S. launch site for Siddique’s book of
poems,
RECITAL – An Almanac.
According to the Salt Publishing website, “From the depths of
longing to the London Bombings, RECITAL offers a poet’s journey
looking at our world over the space of a year. Taking the lunar cycle as
its central theme, Siddique’s book surveys our doubts, desires and
dislocations and unites us in a celebration of love.”
“Siddique has been referred to as the ideal poet for
21st-century Britain,” said Lauri Ramey, director of the Center for
Contemporary Poetry and Poetics at Cal State L.A. “Straddling the
contemporary from an Anglo, Irish, and Indian heritage, his writing is
direct and human, reflecting the world and people of today. His work has
been compared to that of Philip Larkin and ee cummings, yet his voice is
uniquely his own. He draws on the whole tradition of poetry to
creatively transform places that otherwise might seem ordinary.”
He has worked in prisons, schools and hospitals; and he
promotes regeneration and renaissance through the creation of public
art. He was recently commissioned by the seaside town of Blackpool to
create a poem that will be permanently installed by the sea. His current
commission is from Lancaster University to create a series of
portraiture poems exploring the immigrant experience in Manchester.
Siddique has published three collections of poetry: The
Prize (Rialto, 2005), Don’t Wear it on Your Head, Don’t Stick it
Down Your Pants: Poems for Young People (Peepal Tree, 2007), and
Poems from a Northern Soul (Crocus 2007). He has written a short
play for The BBC ‘Freethinking’ Festival and co-authored a collection of
short stories.
He is known for captivating readings, and his ability to open
up the world of poetry and language for all types of audiences. He often
works with the Arvon Foundation, The British Council, The Poetry
Society, and The Poetry School.
For more about Siddique, visit
www.johnsiddique.co.uk/ or go to
www.britishcouncil.org/usa-about-us-events.htm.
Siddique will also present two creative writing workshops to
Cal State L.A. students, staff and faculty members. They will be held
Tuesday, May 19, 3:15-4:15 p.m., at Engineering & Technology building,
English Department Seminar Room A631, and Thursday, May 28, 3:15-4:15
p.m., in the Center for Contemporary Poetry and Poetics at the
Integrated Humanities Center, King Hall building, room D4050.
As part of his residency, Siddique will also enlighten
students from Chester W. Nimitz Middle School during the week of May 25.
The school is engaged in a poetry partnership with Cal State L.A.
through the University’s Center for
Contemporary Poetry and Poetics.
Cal State L.A. was selected as the site
of the first British Council USA UK Writer-in-Residence program in the
West in 2005. Cal State L.A. now hosts the longest running site of
this annual residency in the nation. Showcasing the finest in
contemporary British writing and culture, this high impact program
serves a growing audience on campus and in the region with added new
partners—The National Endowment for the Arts and The Huntington Library,
Art Collections and Botanical Gardens.
This residency is also co-sponsored by
Cal State L.A.’s Center for Contemporary Poetry and Poetics, Salt
Publishing, the CSULA Department of English, and the CSULA College of
Arts and Letters.
For more about the British Council USA UK Writer-in-Residence
program at Cal State L.A., call the CSULA Center for Contemporary Poetry
and Poetics at (323) 343-4165 or go to
www.calstatela.edu/centers/ccpp/NEWSEVENTS.html.
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What:
Poetry reading by John Siddique, Cal State
L.A.’s 2009 British Council USA UK Writer-in-Residence. A book signing
will follow immediately after the reading. Free to the public.
When:
Thursday, May 21, 2009, 6:30 p.m.
Where:
Arena Theatre on the Cal State L.A.
campus. (For campus map or directions, go to http://www.calstatela.edu/univ/maps/cslamap.htm)
Permit parking at Lots 5 and 7 or Parking Structure C.
More:
Siddique will also present two creative
writing workshops to Cal State L.A. students and faculty members. They
will be held Tuesday, May 19, 3:15-4:15 p.m., at Engineering &
Technology building, room A631, and Thursday, May 28, 3:15-4:15 p.m., in
King Hall building, room D4050.
Info:
Call Cal State L.A.’s Center for
Contemporary Poetry and Poetics at (323) 343-4165.
Working for California since 1947: The 175-acre hilltop campus of California State University, Los Angeles is at the heart of a major metropolitan city, just five miles from Los Angeles’ civic and cultural center. More than 20,000 students and 205,000 alumni—with a wide variety of interests, ages and backgrounds—reflect the city’s dynamic mix of populations. Six colleges offer nationally recognized science, arts, business, criminal justice, engineering, nursing, education and humanities programs, among others, led by an award-winning faculty. Cal State L.A. is home to the critically-acclaimed Luckman Jazz Orchestra and to a unique university center for gifted students as young as 12.
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