The Miraculous Season
A Celebration of V.R. 'Bunny' Lang
WithRosa Campbell
In conversation withAnne Boyer
On:22nd February 2024, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
We're so happy that Rosa Campbell will be coming to the bookshop to celebrate the launch of The Miraculous Season. Campbell is the editor of this collection of V.R. 'Bunny' Lang's poems – a rediscovery of a majorly overlooked 20th century writer set to be published by Carcanet Press. Campbell will appear alongside poet and essayist Anne Boyer.
This event will take place in the bookshop with an in-person audience.
In-person vouchers can be redeemed on the night of the event against a single copy of The Miraculous Season – we will have a list of attendees with vouchers to be redeemed. Please note that only one voucher can be redeemed per book.
About The Miraculous Season: Selected Poems:
In the archives of the Houghton Library at Harvard blazes the incandescent work of V.R. 'Bunny' Lang (1924–56), the American poet and playwright whose name has been all but erased from literary history. The fiery nerve centre of the literary scene around mid-century Harvard, and best friend of the iconic New York School poet Frank O'Hara – who referred to her as 'one of our finest poets' – Lang herself has languished in the shadows of American poetry for too long.
This book brings into print some of Lang's most startling, strange, and beautiful poetry, much of which has never been published before, drawing her into the spotlight at last. It includes an editor's introduction by scholar and writer Rosa Campbell, on Lang's fascinating and often hilariously eccentric life, devastatingly early death, and her rightful place in the canon of twentieth-century American poetry. The Miraculous Season, published in Lang's centenary year, is a revelation of the true breadth and brilliance of her poetry, rediscovered and made available in print for the first time since 1975.
Please note: Tickets for our events are non-refundable. Professional photography and videography may take place during this event. Thank you for your understanding.
Participants:
Rosa Campbell Author
Rosa Campbell is an Associate Lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Literature at the University of St Andrews, specialising in twentieth and twenty-first century poetry, especially by women and queer writers. She is also a writer; her poetry has appeared in various places, including Oxford Poetry, fourteen poems, Perverse, Ambit, Gutter and SPAM, and her first book, Pothos—a (sort-of) memoir about grief and houseplants—was published by Broken Sleep Books in 2021.
Anne Boyer Chair
Anne Boyer is a U.S. poet and essayist. In 2018 she was the inaugural winner of the Cy Twombly Award for Poetry and the recipient of a Whiting Award in non-fiction/poetry. Her books include A Handbook of Disappointed Fate (2018) as well as several volumes of poetry, including The Romance of Happy Workers (2008) and the CLMP Firecracker Award-winning Garments Against Women (2016). She was the Judith E. Wilson Fellow at Cambridge University for 2018-2019. She lives is Kansas City, Missouri.
The venue
The Portobello Bookshop
46 Portobello High Street
Edinburgh
EH15 1DA
Telephone: 0131 629 6756
Website: www.theportobellobookshop.com
Wheelchair Access
We have a ramp at the front of the shop which has a ratio of 1:10 and loading capacity of 300kg, and so should be able to be used by most wheelchair users or those with mobility vehicles. The front doors are fully automated. Our shop interior is designed to allow access throughout for wheelchair users and prams, though please note there is only 700mm wide clearance to access the staff toilet.
Sound
We use a PA system to enhance the audio at our live events. We also have a hearing loop system installed, if you’d like to use our loop system during an event please let us know and we’ll make sure we have it set up and connected to the live audio feed during the event. If you wish to attend an event and require BSL interpretation, please give us a few weeks notice and we’ll do our best to arrange an interpreter.