September 30, 2003
(Tuesday)

4:15 p.m. Informal Seminar

8:00 p.m. Reading
Introduction by Eugene Garber
Both Assembly Hall, Campus Center
UAlbany, Uptown Campus

(photo credit: Kate Garfield)

Marvin Bell has published 15 books of poetry in a career spanning five decades. Starting with Things We Dreamt We Died For (1966) to his most recent volume, Nightworks: Poems 1962-2000, which Publishers Weekly said "shows a poet progressing to the peak of his powers," Bell's poetry has dealt with concerns of the self relationships between people, and reflections on the self in relation to nature.

Bell has received consistent praise for being one of poetry's true innovators. In reviewing The Book of the Dead Man (1994), which many regard as Bell's most radical work, Richard Jackson in the North American Review noted, "What The Book of the Dead Man does, by its verbal pyrotechnics, is redefine sensibility. . .This is an astonishing feat. There's no greater gift any poet or poetry can bring." Judith Kitchen also praised Bell's work for "sending [poetry] into new and original territory. . .Bell has redefined poetry as it is being practiced today."

Bell's other poetry volumes include A Marvin Bell Reader: Selected Poetry and Prose (1994), Iris of Creation (1990), New and Selected Poems (1987), Stars Which See, Stars Which Do Not See (1977), which was a finalist for the National Book Award, and Probable Volume of Dreams (1969), which was a Lamont Poetry Selection of the Academy of American Poets. Bell also has received the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature along with numerous writing fellowships. He is a longtime member of the faculty of the Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa. He was also selected to be the State of Iowa's first Poet Laureate in 2000.