Lunch Poems - Ilya Kaminsky

Born in Odessa, Ilya Kaminsky immigrated to the United States in 1993 when his family was granted asylum by the American government. Polish poet Adam Zagajewski says of Kaminsky, "He grafts the gifts of the Russian newer literary tradition on the American tree of poetry and forgetting." Kaminsky teaches comparative literature, poetry and literary translation at San Diego State University.

http://lunchpoems.berkeley.edu

Category:

Education

Tags:

• uc
• ucberkeley
• university
• california
• berkeley
• event
• library
• poems
• kaminsky
• fall2008
• yt:quality=high

[artgeek1501]

I love Ilya Kaminsky. I don't think reading him is better than hearing him read. I think the two are each an art within themselves. When he reads it, it is how he "hears" it which is extraordinary to experience.

[8data]

this guy is great

[CasaDeAgua]

ilya kaminsky, good sir! i would marry thee

[defdeezy]

love his russian accent!

[SoYxB0Mb]

when he speaks it sounds jibberish, but so much emotion and such great poetry

[mstgfstbck]

This man read that first poem two feet away from me in my creative writing class at San Diego State. Our teacher cried and I was blown away. Awesome vid.

[Snartes]

it's not difficult to understand at all if you have a book of his poetry in front of you.

everyone who doesn't, go buy it - he's an amazing poet, connected to a russian literary tradition from odessa (Isaac Babel, Osip Mandelshtam, Yuri Olesha).

and hearing him speak his own words conveys emotion in a way that is completely novel.

if our world forgets him and he is found again (with this recording) 200 years from now, he will be loved.

[psychoguitargrl]

Wow. Hearing him read is such an amazing, awe-inspiring experience. It adds dimensions of meaning inaccessible through simple text on page. I am in awe. I much rather prefer hearing him read this himself than reading it myself.

[afisherg1]

Old guy, is it Robert Hass?, you need to tighten up the intro.

But Ilya, great reading.

[vladsirin]

by far, the strongest contemporary poet writing in english this moment.

[S733py]

Whats the facebook address?