We are pleased to launch a series of poetry readings with “Wanderlust and the Utopian Moment,” a reading by Norman Finkelstein, whose body of work explores themes of childhood, diaspora, grief and elegy, history, Jewish mysticism, and mythology. Finkelstein will be joined in conversation by Mark Scroggins.
Reservations are required: rsvp@primolevicenter.org (specify the program title)
Poetry liberates language from the strictures of habit, inviting the unknown to surface. As Roman Jakobson observes, poeticity arises when words are experienced as independent physical and acoustic forms, not just transparent carriers of meaning. This quality prevents language from becoming automatic or mechanical in the mind of the reader or listener.
Unbound by linear logic, poetry becomes as fluid and evocative as music or visual art.
Poetry’s transformative power lies in its capacity to defy convention, move the heart, and ignite social change—shaping history with the resonance of carefully crafted words. Poetry is meant not only to be read, but to be spoken, heard, and felt.
Centro Primo Levi’s dedication to poetry propels Uncertain Hours – Readings and Reflections in Poetry, a monthly series curated by Barry Schwabsky and Alessandro Cassin. Set in the welcoming, intimate atmosphere of Bookhouse, the series will feature contemporary poets reading from their work, alongside discussions of poets from the past.
Each featured poet will have one poem rendered in-house as a broadside by The Jewish Book Arts Collective.
