A Celebration of New Poetry: Mark Irwin, Rick Barot, Matthew Gellman

Beyond Baroque presents a captivating evening of poetry in celebration of three recently published collections and forthcoming works: Once When Green by Mark Irwin, Moving the Bones by Rick Barot, and Matthew Gellman’s debut collection, Beforelight. The program will feature poets in The Wanda Coleman Theater with book signings to follow.

Enjoy a reception with light refreshments before and after the readings.

Doors Open: 6:30 PM I Readings: 7:00 PM

Mark Irwin is the author of thirteen collections of poetry, which include Once When Green (2025), Joyful Orphan (2023), Shimmer (2020), American Urn: Selected Poems (1987-2014), Large White House Speaking (2013), Tall If (2008), Bright Hunger (2004), White City (2000), Quick, Now, Always (1996), and Against the Meanwhile: Three Elegies (1988). He has also translated Philippe Denis’ Notebook of Shadows, Nichita Stănescu’s Ask the Circle to Forgive You: Selected Poems, and Zanzibar: Selected Poems and Letters of Arthur Rimbaud (forthcoming with Alain Borer). His collection of essays, Monster: Distortion, Abstraction, and Originality in Contemporary American Poetry, was published in 2017. His poetry and essays have appeared in many literary magazines including The American Poetry Review, Agni Review, The Atlantic, Conjunctions, Georgia Review, Harper’s, The Kenyon Review, Paris Review, Pleiades, Poetry, The Nation, New England Review, New American Writing, The New Republic, The New York Times, The Southern Review, and Tin House. Recognition for his work includes The Nation/Discovery Award, four Pushcart Prizes, two Colorado Book Awards, the James Wright Poetry Award, the Philip Levine Prize for Poetry, The Juniper Prize for Poetry, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Fulbright, Lilly, and Wurlitzer Foundations. A professor in the PhD in Creative Writing & Literature Program at the University of Southern California, he lives in Los Angeles and the mountains outside Salida, Colorado. His poetry has been translated into several languages.

Rick Barot's most recent book of poems is Moving the Bones, published by Milkweed Editions in 2024. His previous collection, The Galleons, was longlisted for the National Book Award. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including Poetry, The New Republic, The Adroit Journal, and The New Yorker. He has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Stanford University. He lives in Tacoma, Washington and directs The Rainier Writing Workshop, the low-residency MFA program in creative writing at Pacific Lutheran University.

Matthew Gellman's first book, Beforelight, was selected by Tina Chang as the winner of BOA Editions, Ltd.'s A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize. His second book, The Understudy, is forthcoming from Four Way Books in 2027. Matthew has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Brooklyn Poets, Adroit's Djanikian Scholars Program, the Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Bread Loaf Writers Conference, and elsewhere. His poems have appeared in Bennington Review, Gulf Coast, Prairie Schooner, Poetry Northwest, Indiana Review, The Common, the Missouri Review, and other publications. He is currently a PhD candidate in literature and creative writing at the University of Southern California.

Ticket purchase is required. No one will be turned away for lack of funds! Tickets will be available at the Beyond Baroque bookstore on the day of the event, but we recommend registering in advance through Eventbrite. Masks are encouraged while inside our center.

Livestream: If you can’t join us in-person the event will be livestreamed on at the scheduled time of the event.

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