This series of radical poetry and political thought combines formal lectures and talks with poetry readings and moderated discussion. Through dialectical pairings that link the work of a significant poet (or community of poets) with broader questions concerning the politics of the poetic, it aspires to be a nexus of active learning open to interaction not only among poets but also comrades, fellow-travelers and the general public. The open-ended and collective dialogue that emerges through these seminars strives toward a critical orientation we hope extends beyond the series. As such, this series seeks, through its movement, to fully embody an ethos of participation that starts from contemporary social relations under capitalism and insists on the dire need for their transformation. If, as Hegel asserts, the spirit of poetry courses through and develops itself in all the arts—in, that is, every aspect of cultural production—then it is with an attention to poetry as a thoroughly social practice and material presence in the world that we properly begin.
Organized and moderated by Boyd Nielson, Richard Owens and Joe Ramsey, this series is sponsored by the Center for Marxist Education, Cambridge, MA, where all events within this series will take place unless otherwise noted.
Center for Marxist Education, 550 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139.
