THE ARTIFACTUAL CONSCIOUSNESS: 

Non-Fiction/Poetry Reading & Discussion

Alexandra Zapruder & Matthew Zapruder
Moderated by Michael Downing

How much can be known, or understood, from a work of art or a historical artifact? How is knowledge disseminated through a culture, how does it adhere through objects to a family or a people? Whether it is a lyrical poem or Abraham Zapruder’s footage of the JFK assassination, what does a historical artifact actually tell us? And, what are the crucial differences between knowledge and information?

In this powerful two-part event, featuring readings and a moderated discussion, poet and editor Matthew Zapruder (author of Why Poetry?/Ecco Press) and historian Alexandra Zapruder (author of Twenty-Six Seconds: A Personal History of the Zapruder Film/Twelve Press) take the stage together to share their personal experiences and their distinct creative and critical perceptions. The conversation will be moderated by Michael Downing, author of Life With Sudden Death: A Memoir (Counterpoint Press). A book-signing, provided by Harvard Book Store, will follow the event.

Sponsored by the Woodberry Poetry Room in conjunction with the Houghton Library exhibition “Altered States: Sex, Drugs, and Transcendence in the Ludlow-Santo Domingo Library.”

Edison Newman Room, Houghton Library
Tuesday, December 5, 6:00pm

Free and open to the public.