Carcanet online book launch: Parallel Movement Of The Hands by John Ashbery

Emily Skillings has edited Parallel Movement Of The Hands: Five unfinished longer works by John Ashbery, who died, aged ninety, in 2017, and will be reading from and discussing the new edition with Carcanet poet Oli Hazzard.

“In-progress and realised”, as their editor Emily Skillings puts it, these final John Ashbery poems are “generous, omnivorous forms”.

Parallel Movement Of The Hands brings together five long, serial poems and prose poems, left unfinished by John Ashbery in his New York apartment. “In-progress and realised”, as their editor Emily Skillings puts it, these final John Ashbery poems are “generous, omnivorous forms” “characteristic of the mature work of this American master, adept of the glories of American speech, who is alert to its insinuating logics and its wild goose chases through popular culture and secret histories”.

John Ashbery was born in Rochester, New York, in 1927. His books of poetry include Self-Portrait In A Convex Mirror, which received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, the National Book Critics Circle Award and the National Book Award. The winner of many prizes and awards both nationally and internationally, in 2011 he received the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation, and in 2012 he received a National Humanities Medal, presented by President Obama at the White House.

As always with Carcanet Press events, extracts of the text will be shown during the reading so that you can read along, and audience members will have the opportunity to ask their own questions. Registration for this online event is £2, redeemable against the cost of the new book – attendees will receive a discount code and details of how to get hold of it during and after the event.

Also check out the Carcanet website for other upcoming launch events: on 30 June Jason Allen-Paisant, on 21 July Alex Wong and on 28 July Gregory Woods.