Arts & Entertainment

Chase Twichell to Speak at La Grua Center on Writing and Zen Buddhism

The Connecticut author will speak about her latest book, "Beyond Words: The Zen of Poetry."

A leading voice in contemporary poetry, Chase Twichell is a longtime student of Zen Buddhism, and her work often reflects her spiritual practice. “Beyond Words: The Zen of Poetry” will be the theme of her upcoming talk at the La Grua Center on Sunday, September 8, at 5 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. A reception and book signing will follow. 

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Twichell earned her M.F.A. from the Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa, where she also studied graphic design and letterpress printing. She is the author of seven books of poetry—most recently Horses Where Answers Should Have Been: New and Selected Poems (2010), for which she won the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. Poet and critic Robert Pinsky described Twichell’s collection The Snow Watcher (1998) as “full of sharp observation, both of the world and herself, unsentimental poems with a sinewy intellectual toughness.”  

She has taught at Princeton University, Goddard College, Warren Wilson College, the University of Alabama, and Hampshire College. In 1999, she left teaching to start Ausable Press, a nonprofit independent literary press that she until ran until its acquisition by Copper Canyon Press in 2009. Her poems have appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, The Georgia Review, Poetry, Ploughshares, The Nation, Tricycle, Field, and The Yale Review. Married to the novelist Russell Banks, she divides her time between upstate New York and Florida.  

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The La Grua Center is located at 7 Stonington Commons, 32 Water Street, Stonington, Connecticut and is accessible; for directions call (860) 535-2300. 

ABOUT THE JAMES MERRILL HOUSE

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The James Merrill House is a non-profit organization operated by the Stonington Village Improvement Association to preserve the former home of Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet James Merrill and make this exceptional space available as a residence for writers. In addition, JMH organizes outreach programs, including writing workshops in the community and local schools, reading groups, and public seminars and lectures. Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheJamesMerrillHouse


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