John Ashbery Poetry Series at Bard College Presents Poets Eugene Ostashevsky and Matvei Yankelvich

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The John Ashbery Poetry Series at Bard College presents Eugene Ostashevsky and Matvei Yankelevich reading from their poems and translations of works by contemporary Russian authors. The program takes place on Thursday, October 14, at 6:00 p.m. in Weis Cinema, and is free and open to the public.

Eugene Ostashevsky is a Russian-born American poet and translator published by Ugly Duckling Presse. His most recent book of poems, The Life and Opinions of DJ Spinoza, employs characters such as MC Squared, Peepeesaurus, the Begriffon and, of course, DJ Spinoza to explore the shortcomings of axiomatic systems with the insouciance and energy of Saturday-morning cartoons. His earlier collection, Iterature, displays dissonant rhythms, heavy unexpected rhymes and multilingual puns as well as a healthy interest in mathematics. As a translator, Ostashevsky has edited the first English-language anthology of OBERIU, a Russian avant-garde group from the 1920s and ’30s, led by Alexander Vvedensky and Daniil Kharms; he has also translated more contemporary poets, including Dmitry Golynko.

Matvei Yankelevich’s books and chapbooks include Boris by the Sea (Octopus Books), The Present Work (Palm Press), and Writing in the Margin (Loudmouth Collective). His writing has appeared in Action Yes!, Boston Review, Damn the Caesars, Fence, Open City, Tantalum, Typo, Zen Monster, and other magazines. His translations from Russian have cropped up in Calque, Circumference, Harper’s, New American Writing, Poetry, and the New Yorker, and in some anthologies. His translations of Daniil Kharms were collected in Today I Wrote Nothing: The Selected Writings of Daniil Kharms (Ardis/Overlook), and he has contributed translations of Russian poetry to several anthologies. He also edited a portfolio of Contemporary Russian Poetry and Poetics for the magazine Aufgabe (No. 8, Fall 2009). He teaches at Hunter College, Columbia University School of the Arts, and the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College. As one of the founding editors of Ugly Duckling Presse, he continues to design and edit many and various books, including those in the Eastern European Poets Series, and remains one of the coeditors of 6×6 magazine.

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This event was last updated on 09-30-2010

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