News & Events

Center for Jewish Studies Hosts Reading by Poet Emily Warn

April 5, 2010

UNC Asheville's Center for Jewish Studies will host a reading and talk by poet Emily Warn at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 13, in UNC Asheville's Laurel Forum, Karpen Hall. Warn will read and discuss her latest poetry collection, "The Shadow Architect." The event is free and open to the public.

Warn's "Shadow Architect" is organized around the 22-letter Hebrew alphabet. Warn presents three poems for each Hebrew character: the first based on its physical form, the second on its meaning and the third on its numerical significance according to the Hebrew system of "gematria." The book is a "midrash," or an interpretation based on traditional Jewish doctrine and Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition.

Warn has taught creative writing and served as writer-in-residence at many schools and arts centers, including Lynchburg College, The Bush School in Seattle and the Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, New Mexico. Warn has published five collections of poetry, including "The Leaf Path" and "The Novice Insomniac." Her essays and poems have appeared in various publications, including "Poetry," "BookForum" and "Blackbird." She most recently served as the Webby Award–winning founding editor of poetryfoundation.org.

For more information, call the Center for Jewish Studies at 828/232-5027 or visit www.unca.edu/cjs.