April 12, 2016

 

 

 

Contacts:
Tami Haaland, 657-2948
University Relations & Communications, 657-2266 

 

MSU BILLINGS NEWS SERVICES — Visiting Writer Julian Stannard will read selections of his poetry at MSU Billings Extended Campus on Friday at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

 

Stannard taught for many years at the University of Genoa and now directs the graduate program in Creative Writing at University of Winchester. His visit to Billings is part of an ongoing collaboration between the creative writing programs at Montana State University Billings and University of Winchester.

 

Stannard has been called “One of the very few mavericks in British poetry” for his ability to meld seriousness with humor, heartbreak with irony. His newest collection, “What Were You Thinking,” has received significant praise. 

 

Don Share of Poetry Magazine says ‘The poetry of Julian Stannnard is a fresh and delectable pleasure because he is a flâneur without alienation, a wit whose sharpness comes at nobody’s expense, and a gourmand with a gleeful sense of mortality.” British Playwright Deborah Levy says “The depth charge at work in Stannard’s every electric sentence makes him one of the most distinctive British poets working today.”

Among his previous collections are “The Street of Perfect Love,” “The Parrots of Villa Gruber Discover Lapis Lazuli,” “The Red Zone” and “Rina’s War.” His work has appeared widely in Britain and Europe. In the US, his poetry has appeared in “Poetry,” “Salamander,” “Manhattan Review” and “The Cold Mountain Review.” He reviews for the “Times Literary Supplement,” the “Guardian” and “Poetry Review” and runs poetry workshops for The Poetry School in London. He has been awarded fellowships from the Bogliasco Institute in Italy and Hawthornden in Scotland. In 2010 he was awarded the International Troubadour Prize for poetry.