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Poet Chase Twichell to Read and Deliver Lecture at Smith
 NORTHAMPTON, Mass.— Smith College will present a reading by acclaimed poet Chase Twichell at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 2, in Stoddard Hall Auditorium. Twichell will also give a lecture, “Beyond Words: What Poetry and Zen Have in Common,” at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 4, in the Poetry Center, Wright Hall. Both events are free and open to the public.
Long a force in both the poetry and publishing worlds, Twichell has been described as a writer of “dazzling and profound imagination.” She is author of six books, most recently “Dog Language”; and her new collection, entitled “Horses Where the Answers Should Have Been,” is forthcoming from Copper Canyon Press in April 2010.
A native of New Haven, Conn., she earned a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College and a master of fine arts degree from the prestigious University of Iowa Writers Workshop. Returning to the East Coast, Twichell settled in the Northampton area and worked with Barry Moser as printer, bookbinder and designer at Pennyroyal Press. In 1983, Twichell began a decades-long career as a teacher of creative writing, first at Hampshire College, followed by the University of Alabama, Goddard College, Warren Wilson College and Princeton University. In 1999, she founded Ausable Press, a non-profit independent literary press that she operated until it was acquired by Copper Canyon Press in 2009.
Managing to be both meditative and startling, Twichell explores the nature of the human mind and the urgencies of our imperiled natural world with what Boston Review called “fierce psychic inquiry and tremendous lyrical gifts.” A practicing Buddhist and student in the Mountains and Rivers Order at Zen Mountain Monastery, Twichell’s poems reflect her spiritual practice within the ancient tradition of Basho and Dogen, as well as the contemporary company of poets Gary Snyder and W.S. Merwin.
Twichell’s week-long residency will consist of workshops and student conferences, in addition to the poetry reading and lecture. Her visit to the Pioneer Valley is made possible by a generous gift from Smith alumna Tammis Day ’05.
Twichell’s reading will be followed by a book sale and signing. For further information, call Michaela Cahillane in the Poetry Center office at (413) 585-4891 or Ellen Doré Watson, Poetry Center director, at (413) 585-3368.
For disability access information or to request accommodations, call (413) 585-2407. To request a sign language interpreter specifically, call (413) 585-2071 (voice or TTY) or e-mail ODS@smith.edu. All requests must be made at least 10 days prior to the event.
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