In honor of National Poetry Month on Saturday the Lakeport Library welcomed 2019 Pulitzer Prize Winner Forrest Gander, who shared some of his poetry as well as other pieces from all over the globe.
Gander, who has educated many in his work at both Harvard and Brown Universities, is a skilled poet and translator known widely for his piece “Be With”, which earned him the Pulitzer Prize in 2019. Another of his works “Core Samples from the World” was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize as well as the National Book Critics Award Circle.
He shared excerpts from his own work including “Mojave Ghost”, which he wrote while hiking the San Andreas Fault in the Mojave Desert, the place where he was born, after the death of his mother. The poem notes:
“There is nothing in me now
of what I was before. That’s
what he tells himself. In order
to live with himself.”
Gander also read from the work “Across / Ground”, which was a collaborative work with Swiss born photographer Lukas Felzman who took photos of every county in California, then paired the images with captions. Gander shared some of these captivating images while focusing on the Lake County photo which depicts the legendary fault line, an infamous area in Kelseyville that intersects highway 29, growing deeper and wider every year.
As a well-known translator, Gander illustrated his skills in sharing some of Bolivian poet Jaime Saenz’ work which is written in the Aymara language. Gander expressed how Saenz could relish in life and death as “the membrane between the living and the dead is permeable.”
With quite the turnout of over a dozen people, many attendees came straight over from a nearby protest that had ended just prior to the event. Gander observed his crowd. He said, “A lot of people coming over from the demonstration, a lot of poets, and so a lot of interesting engagement from the audience. It was rather nice for me.” Literacy Coordinator and former Lake County Poet Laureate from 2020-2024 Georgina Guardado arranged this poetry reading as she had met Gander through the Napa Valley Writers Conference. Detailing his accomplishments Guardado shared, “He is a United States Artists Rockefeller Fellow and has received fellowships from The National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim, Whiting, and Howard Foundations. In 2011, he was awarded the Library of Congress Witter Bynner Fellowship.”
She expressed her gratitude for the Friends of the Lake County Library as they were gracious enough to sponsor this event “It’s a good time to support your local library,” she said. Guardado discussed how important it is to show that support sharing that there are many events ongoing at the libraries around the lake, with their next poetry event happening this upcoming Saturday April 12 at 2 p.m., again at the Lakeport branch. This event will be an open mic style poetry gathering that is open to all and free to join. Guardado said, “I encourage the public to sign up for the newsletter” as a way to learn about all of the events and offerings at the local library which is accessible on the library website at www.lakecountyca.gov.
