Arts and Entertainment

Comparative Literature Luncheon to feature talk by Alexander Cigale

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Alexander Cigale, of Queens College of CUNY, will present “On the Evolution of an Absurdist Proto-Existentialist; the Physical, Mental, and Spiritual in the Art of Daniil Kharms (1905-1942)” in Room 102 of the Kern Building at 12:15 p.m. on Jan. 29.

"Russian Absurd: Daniil Kharms, Selected Writings," which appeared in 2017 in the Northwestern World Classics series, is Cigale’s first full book. In 2015, he was awarded an NEA Fellowship in Literary Translation, for his work on the poet Mikhail Eremin of the St. Petersburg philological school, and guest edited the Spring 2015 Russia Issue of the Atlanta Review, blogging about it for one week on Best American Poetry. His own poems in English have appeared in the Colorado Review, The Common Online, and The Literary Review, and his translations of classic, Silver Age, and contemporary Russian poetry in Harvard Review, Kenyon Review, Modern Poetry in Translation, New England Review, PEN America, TriQuarterly, The Hopkins Review, Two Lines, Words Without Borders, and World Literature in Today. He is the guest editor of the Penn State affiliated Trafika Europe Russian Ballet issue. 

This event is a part of the Comparative Literature Luncheon lecture series, a weekly, informal lunchtime gathering of students, faculty and other members of the University community. Each week the event begins at 12:15 p.m. — coffee and light lunch fare are provided. At 12:30 p.m. there will be a presentation, by a visitor or a local speaker, on a topic related to any humanities discipline. All students, faculty, colleagues and friends are welcome. For a full list of Comparative Literature lunches, visit http://complit.la.psu.edu/news-events/comp-lit-luncheon-series.  This event is sponsored by the Department of Comparative Literature and the Center for Global Studies.       

Last Updated January 31, 2018