Author Kazim Ali to hold readings at Texas State, KAP House

By Kristina Kenney
University News Service
November 19, 2012

Award-winning poet, author and editor Kazim Ali will give readings and book signings at the Katherine Anne Porter Literacy Center and the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University Nov. 29-30.

Ali will be at the Wittliff Collections, located on the seventh floor of Alkek Library on the Texas State campus, Nov. 29 at 3:30 p.m. He will give a second reading the following day at the Katherine Anne Porter Literary Center, located at 508 Center St. in Kyle at 7:30 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.

Ali's body of work includes several volumes of poetry, such as The Far Mosque, The Fortieth Day and Bright Felon: Autobiography and Cities, as well as the novels Quinn’s Passage and The Disappearance of Seth. He has also published a translation of Water's Footfall by Sohrab Sepehri. His books of essays include Orange Alert: Essays on Poetry, Art and the Architecture of Silence and Fasting for Ramadan. He co-edited On the Poetry of Jean Valentine and is a contributing editor for AWP Writers Chronicle.

Ali is a winner of Alice James Books' New England/New York Award, and Quinn’s Passage was named one of “The Best Books of 2005” by Chronogram magazine. Ali is an associate professor of creative writing and comparative literature at Oberlin College and teaches graduate courses in fine arts at the University of Southern Maine.

Both events are sponsored by the Burdine Johnson Foundation, the Wittliff Collections and the Texas State University Department of English. Books will be available during and after the events through the University Bookstore and Barnes and Noble.

For more information, contact Katie Angermeier at kapliterarycenter@gmail.com or visit the website at www.english.txstate.edu/kap.