For Immediate Release
October 1, 2024
CLARK ART INSTITUTE AND DU BOIS FREEDOM CENTER
CO-HOST FREE POETRY READING AND BOOK SIGNING
WITH POETS IAIN HALEY POLLOCK
AND NATHAN MCCLAIN
Williamstown, Massachusetts—On Sunday, October 6 at 4 pm, the Clark Art Institute hosts poets Iain Haley Pollock and Nathan McClain in the Manton Research Center auditorium for a free poetry reading. Pollock reads poems from his most recent book, Ghost, Like a Place, and from a forthcoming collection. McClain, whose poetry has been described as “no-nonsense, meat and potatoes, good gotdam poetry,” also reads from his work. The two poets then discuss their stylistic differences and conceptual overlap when it comes to poetry, language, race, and W.E.B. Du Bois’s concept of double consciousness. A Q&A and book signing follow the event.
Iain Haley Pollock is the author of three poetry collections, Spit Back a Boy (2011), Ghost, Like a Place (Alice James Books, 2018), and the forthcoming All the Possible Bodies (Alice James, September 2025). His poems have appeared in numerous other publications, ranging from American Poetry Review and The Kenyon Review to The New York Times Magazine and The Progressive. Pollock has received several honors for his work including the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, the Alice Fay di Castagnola Award from the Poetry Society of America, a 2023 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Poetry, the Bim Ramke Prize for Poetry from Denver Quarterly, and a nomination for an NAACP Image Award. He directs the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Manhattanville University in Purchase, New York.
Nathan McClain is the author of two collections of poetry, Previously Owned (Four Way Books, 2022), longlisted for the Massachusetts Book Award, and Scale (Four Way Books, 2017). McClain is a recipient of fellowships from The Frost Place, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference; he is also a Cave Canem fellow. His poems and prose have appeared in The Hopkins Review, Plume Poetry 10, The Common, Guesthouse, and Poetry Northwest, among others. McClain received his MFA from Warren Wilson College. He now teaches at Hampshire College and serves as poetry editor of the Massachusetts Review.
Free. Accessible seats available; for information, call 413 458 0524. A Q&A and book signing follow the event. Copies of recent books by Pollock and McClain will be available for purchase at the reading and in the Museum Store. This event is co-organized with the Du Bois Freedom Center, Great Barrington, Massachusetts.
ABOUT THE CLARK
The Clark Art Institute, located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, is one of a small number of institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Opened in 1955, the Clark houses exceptional European and American paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings, English silver, and early photography. Acting as convener through its Research and Academic Program, the Clark gathers an international community of scholars to participate in a lively program of conferences, colloquia, and workshops on topics of vital importance to the visual arts. The Clark library, consisting of more than 285,000 volumes, is one of the nation’s premier art history libraries. The Clark also houses and co-sponsors the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art.
The Clark, which has a three-star rating in the Michelin Green Guide, is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Its 140-acre campus includes miles of hiking and walking trails through woodlands and meadows, providing an exceptional experience of art in nature. Galleries are open 10 am to 5 pm Tuesday through Sunday, from September through June, and daily in July and August. Admission is free January through March and is $20 from March through December; admission is free year-round for Clark members, all visitors age 21 and under, and students with a valid student ID. Free admission is also available through several programs, including First Sundays Free; a local library pass program; and EBT Card to Culture. For information on these programs and more, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.
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