Robin Becker will read her poetry at Dartmouth today, including from her latest work, "The Horse Fair," at 4 p.m. in the Wren Room in Sanborn Library.
Becker, who is Associate Professor of English and Women's Studies at Pennsylvania State University, might also read from some of her previous works -- four other collections that date back to the mid-1970s.
Her fourth piece, "All-American Girl," won the 1996 Lambda Literary Award in Lesbian Poetry. Becker also won the 1997 Virginia Faulkner Prize for Excellence in Writing from Prairie Schooner magazine.
"When I think of Robin Becker, certain images come to mind," said poet and Dartmouth English Professor Tom Sleigh, who invited Becker. He listed horses, the Holocaust, small-town rituals and "a skeptical, but undefeated sense about what time does to people."
Becker draws on her often troubled past, social history and themes of family, Judaism, animals and sexuality for her poetry. Many critics write about her unique passion and energy.
All this could make for an interesting reading.
"There's something you can hear about the poems when they're read in the poet's voice," Sleigh said.
He continued by saying that a reading involves the listener's body and attention in a way simple reading does not.
The title "The Horse Fair" comes from the 19th century French artist Rosa Bonheur's life size masterpiece of the same name. The long opening poem of this book details the painting, and the lives of both artists.
Becker also serves as Poetry Editor for Women's Review of Books.
During the 1998-99 academic year she was a visiting scholar at the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies of the City University of New York.
