Award-Winning Poet Eduardo Corral to Give Reading at W&J

WASHINGTON, PA (April 12, 2016) — Poet Eduardo Corral is bringing work from his award-winning book, Slow Lightning, to Washington & Jefferson College (W&J) for a poetry reading April 19 at 7 p.m. in Burnett 103.

W&J’s English Department is sponsoring Corral’s poetry reading, which is free and open to the public. Registration is not required.

Slow Lightning made history when it won the Yale Younger Poets Prize, making Corral the first Latino to receive this award. He also is the winner of a Discovery/The Nation Award, the J. Howard and Barbara M.J. Wood Prize, a Whiting Writers’ Award, and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.

“[Corral’s poems are] sensually rich and they delight the ear. They’re grounded in the traditions of English and Spanish poetry, but their attitude toward those traditions is complicated,” said George D. Clark, Ph.D., an assistant professor of English at W&J. “Corral bends and twists the forms and styles of his predecessors to get entirely new effects. I also admire the great psychological insight of his lyrics. In the space a line he can break your heart. In sum, he’s a poet that we can all learn a great deal from.”

The audience can expect Corral to combine the English and Spanish language in his poetry as he explores an array of topics, including history and sexuality.

“I have heard Corral read on a couple of occasions and I know that he puts on a good show,” said Clark. “He’s deeply generous to students. And even though his poems deal with such ‘serious’ subject matter as immigration, AIDS, and identity, at heart, Corral is a love poet and his graciousness invites an audience into the poems’ dramas with real charm.”

About Washington & Jefferson College

Washington & Jefferson College, located in Washington, Pa., is a selective liberal arts college founded in 1781. Committed to providing each of its students with the highest-quality undergraduate education available, W&J offers a traditional arts and sciences curriculum emphasizing interdisciplinary study and independent study work. For more information about W&J, visit washjeff.dev, or call 888-W-AND-JAY.

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