News & Events Poet Ilya Kaminsky to Read from His Work at Amherst College March 5

February 5, 2009           

AMHERST, Mass.—Poet Ilya Kaminsky will read from his work at 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 5, at the Center for Russian Culture, on the second floor of Webster Center on the campus of Amherst College. Sponsored by the Amherst College Creative Writing Center and the Department of Russian, the event is open to the public at no charge.

Honoring Kaminsky with a Metcalf Award, the American Academy of Arts and Letters wrote, “With his magical style in English, poems in [Kaminsky’s collection] Dancing In Odessa seem like a literary counterpart to Chagall in which laws of gravity have been suspended and colors reassigned, but only to make everyday reality that much more indelible.”

Kaminsky was born in Odessa, the former Soviet Union, and currently lives in California, where he writes award-winning poetry in both Russian and English. In addition to teaching creative writing and translation at San Diego State University, he is the co-founder of Poets for Peace, an organization that sponsors poetry readings worldwide to support relief organizations such as Doctors Without Borders and Survivors International.

Every year, the Amherst College Creative Writing Center sponsors a reading series featuring both emerging and established authors. All events are wheelchair accessible and followed by refreshments. For more information, please call 413/542-8200.