Carver Series Presents Renowned Poet Tom Sleigh Sept. 30
Sleigh is Syracuse’s Leonard and Elise Elman Visiting Writer
The Raymond Carver Reading Series in Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences continues with a reading by acclaimed poet, essayist, and dramatist Tom Sleigh.
On Wednesday, Sept. 30, Sleigh, who is this semester’s Leonard and Elise Elman Visiting Writer, will participate in an audience Q&A session at 3:45 p.m., followed by an author reading at 5:30 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public, and take place in Gifford Auditorium of Huntington Beard Crouse Hall. For more information, contact Sarah Harwell G’05, associate director of the M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing, at scharwel@syr.edu.
“Tom Sleigh is one of today’s most inventive and provocative poets,” Harwell says. “Known for his strong, protean style, he is as full of shock and outrage as he is, of wonder and eloquence. To have someone here of his stature—‘pushing into greatness,’ to quote poet Philip Levine—is a rare opportunity for our literary community.”
Sleigh is the author of eight books of poetry, including Station Zed (Graywolf Press, 2015), which weaves together elements of history, mythology, and autobiography to create a collection that Publishers Weekly calls “personal and prophetic.” His other books include Army Cats (Graywolf Press, 2011) and Space Walk (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007), winners of the prestigious John Updike and Kingsley Tufts awards, respectively.
Sleigh’s prose and poetry are widely anthologized, and regularly appear in many mainstream publications, including The New Yorker and The Atlantic. His work has been characterized as “gritty and challenging” (The Washington Post), “indispensable” (The Boston Globe), and “hard-earned and well-founded” (late poet Seamus Heaney).
Sleigh is a Distinguished Professor in the M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing at Hunter College of The City University of New York. He earned an M.A. from The Johns Hopkins University.
Named for the legendary fiction writer who taught at Syracuse during the Eighties, the Carver Series brings 12-14 prominent writers to campus each year. The series is organized and presented by the M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing in conjunction with an undergraduate course called “Living Writers” (ETS 107). Both the program and course are housed in the Department of English in A&S.
On Wednesday, Sept. 30, Sleigh, who is this semester’s Leonard and Elise Elman Visiting Writer, will participate in an audience Q&A session at 3:45 p.m., followed by an author reading at 5:30 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public, and take place in Gifford Auditorium of Huntington Beard Crouse Hall. For more information, contact Sarah Harwell G’05, associate director of the M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing, at scharwel@syr.edu.
“Tom Sleigh is one of today’s most inventive and provocative poets,” Harwell says. “Known for his strong, protean style, he is as full of shock and outrage as he is, of wonder and eloquence. To have someone here of his stature—‘pushing into greatness,’ to quote poet Philip Levine—is a rare opportunity for our literary community.”
Sleigh is the author of eight books of poetry, including Station Zed (Graywolf Press, 2015), which weaves together elements of history, mythology, and autobiography to create a collection that Publishers Weekly calls “personal and prophetic.” His other books include Army Cats (Graywolf Press, 2011) and Space Walk (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007), winners of the prestigious John Updike and Kingsley Tufts awards, respectively.
Sleigh’s prose and poetry are widely anthologized, and regularly appear in many mainstream publications, including The New Yorker and The Atlantic. His work has been characterized as “gritty and challenging” (The Washington Post), “indispensable” (The Boston Globe), and “hard-earned and well-founded” (late poet Seamus Heaney).
Sleigh is a Distinguished Professor in the M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing at Hunter College of The City University of New York. He earned an M.A. from The Johns Hopkins University.
Named for the legendary fiction writer who taught at Syracuse during the Eighties, the Carver Series brings 12-14 prominent writers to campus each year. The series is organized and presented by the M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing in conjunction with an undergraduate course called “Living Writers” (ETS 107). Both the program and course are housed in the Department of English in A&S.
Media Contact
Rob Enslin