Benjamin S. Lerner (born February 4, 1979)[1] is an American poet, novelist, essayist, and critic. The recipient of fellowships from the Fulbright, Guggenheim, and MacArthur Foundations, Lerner has been a finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry, the National Book Critics Circle Award in fiction, and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, among many other honors.[2][3] Lerner teaches at Brooklyn College, where he was named a Distinguished Professor of English in 2016.[4]
Ben Lerner | |
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![]() Lerner in 2015 | |
Born | Topeka, Kansas, U.S. | February 4, 1979
Education | Brown University (BA, MFA) |
Genre | Poetry, novels, essays |
Notable awards | Fulbright Scholar Guggenheim Fellowship Believer Book Award MacArthur Fellowship |
Life and work
editLerner was born and raised in Topeka, Kansas, which figures in each of his books of poetry. His mother is the clinical psychologist Harriet Lerner.[5] He is a 1997 graduate of Topeka High School, where he participated in debate and forensics, winning the 1997 National Forensic League National Tournament in International Extemporaneous Speaking.[6] At Brown University he studied with poet C. D. Wright and earned a B.A. in political theory and an MFA in poetry.[7]
Lerner was awarded the Hayden Carruth prize for his cycle of 52 sonnets, The Lichtenberg Figures.[8] In 2004 Library Journal named it one of the year's 12 best books of poetry.
In 2003 Lerner traveled on a Fulbright Scholarship to Madrid, Spain, where he wrote his second book of poetry, Angle of Yaw, which was published in 2006. It was named a finalist for the National Book Award. His third poetry collection, Mean Free Path, was published in 2010.
Lerner's first novel, Leaving the Atocha Station, published in 2011,[9] won the Believer Book Award[10] and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for first fiction (The Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction[broken anchor]) and the New York Public Library's Young Lions Fiction Award. Writing in The Guardian, Geoff Dyer called it "a work so luminously original in style and form as to seem like a premonition, a comet from the future."[11]
Excerpts of Lerner's second novel, 10:04, won the Terry Southern Prize from The Paris Review.[12] Writing in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Maggie Nelson called 10:04 a "near perfect piece of literature."[13] In 2024, The New York Times named 10:04 one of the best novels of the 21st century.[1]
The New York Times Book Review called Lerner's 2019 novel The Topeka School "a high-water mark in recent American fiction."[14] Giles Harvey, in The New York Times Magazine, called it "the best book yet by the most talented writer of his generation." The New York Times also named it one of the ten best books of the year.[15] Lerner's essays, art criticism, and literary criticism have appeared in Harper's Magazine, the London Review of Books, The New York Review of Books, and The New Yorker, among other publications.[16] The Topeka School, which won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.[17]
In 2023, Lerner published his fourth full-length book of poetry, both verse and prose poems, The Lights. In The New York Times, Srikanth Reddy wrote: "It takes a poet to invent characters who argue that 'the voice must be sung into existence.' It takes a novelist to honor so many perspectives, histories and intimacies in one book..The poet/novelist of The Lights enlarges Baudelaire’s experiments in prose poetry into a multistory dream house for contemporary American readers." In The New Yorker, Kamran Javadizadeh called The Lights "world-bridging poetry", "uncannily beautiful", and "exceedingly lovely".[18]
In 2008 Lerner began editing poetry for Critical Quarterly, a British scholarly publication.[19] In 2016 he became the first poetry editor at Harper's.[20] He has taught at California College of the Arts and the University of Pittsburgh, and in 2010 joined the faculty of the MFA program at Brooklyn College.[21]
Work on Wikipedia
editIn the December 2023 issue of Harper's Magazine, Lerner published a fictional story titled "The Hofmann Wobble: Wikipedia and the Problem of Historical Memory."[22] In the story, Lerner demonstrates a familiarity with Wikipedian editing and administrative processes, as well as problematic issues such as circular reporting, sockfarm creation, and sponsored content on Wikipedia. He explained: "I've written a short story—or a kind of fictional essay (it's based on a real project of mine but all the facts have been altered)—about a young man's efforts to manipulate Wikipedia for the good (so he thinks) through the construction of multiple online identities."
Reflections about Lerner's piece prompted a "Disinformation Report" reflection in the December 4, 2023, issue of The Signpost.[23]
Bibliography
editPoetry
edit- The Lichtenberg figures. Port Townsend: Copper Canyon Press. 2004.
- Angle of Yaw. Port Townsend: Copper Canyon Press. 2006. ISBN 9781556592461.
- Mean Free Path. Port Townsend: Copper Canyon Press. 2010. ISBN 9781619320741.
- No Art. 2016. Collection of previous three volumes.
- The Lights. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux 2023.
Novels
edit- Leaving the Atocha Station, Coffee House Press, 2011. ISBN 9781566892926
- 10:04, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014. ISBN 978-0865478107[24]
- The Topeka School, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2019.
Non-fiction
edit- The Hatred of Poetry. FSG Originals, 2016.
Edited volumes
edit- Keeping / the window open: Interviews, Statements, Alarms, Excursions. On Keith and Rosmarie Waldrop. Wave Books, 2019.
Collaborations with artists
edit- Blossom. Mack Books, 2015. With Thomas Demand.
- The Polish Rider. Mack Books, 2018. With Anna Ostoya.
- The Snows of Venice. Spector Books, 2018. With Alexander Kluge
- Gold Custody. Mack Books, 2021. With Barbara Bloom
- The Clichés. Song Cave Editions, 2022. With R. H. Quaytman
Awards
edit- 2003 – Hayden Carruth Award[25]
- 2003–2004 – Fulbright Fellowship[26]
- 2006 – Finalist, National Book Award[27] for Angle of Yaw.
- 2006 – Finalist, Northern California Book Awards for Angle of Yaw[28]
- 2007 – Kansas Notable Book Award for Angle of Yaw
- 2010–2011 – Howard Foundation Fellowship[29]
- 2011 – Preis der Stadt Münster für internationale Poesie[30]
- 2011 – Finalist, Los Angeles Times Book Prize for first fiction[31]
- 2012 – Finalist, Young Lions Fiction Award of the New York Public Library[32]
- 2012 – Believer Book Award[10]
- 2012 – Finalist, William Saroyan International Prize for Writing[33]
- 2012 – Finalist, PEN/Bingham Award[34]
- 2013 – Finalist, James Tait Black Memorial Prize[35]
- 2013 – Guggenheim Fellowship[16]
- 2014 – Terry Southern Fiction Prize from The Paris Review[12]
- 2014 – Finalist, Folio Prize[36]
- 2017 – named one of Granta's best young American novelists
- 2015–2020 Winner, MacArthur Foundation Fellowship
- 2019 – Finalist, Folio Prize
- 2019 – Finalist, National Book Critics Circle Award
- 2019 Winner, Kansas Notable Book Award
- 2019 – Winner, Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction
- 2020 – Finalist, Pulitzer Prize for Fiction[3]
- 2024 – Long listed for The Griffin Prize for poetry
References
edit- ^ "[I'm going to kill the president...] (Ben Lerner) · Lyrikline.org". September 26, 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-09-26.
- ^ "Writers Speak | Ben Lerner in conversation with Duncan White". mahindrahumanities.fas.harvard.edu.
- ^ a b "2020 Pulitzer Prizes". www.pulitzer.org. Retrieved 2023-11-30.
- ^ "CUNY Trustees Approve New Labor Contracts – CUNY Newswire". Archived from the original on 2016-09-22. Retrieved 2016-07-04.
- ^ Link (2006-12-05). "Silliman's Blog". Ronsilliman.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2011-06-19.
- ^ Blankenship, Bill (March 9, 2005). "Young poet to read works at Washburn". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
- ^ Lerner, Ben (January 14, 2016). "Postscript: C.D. Wright, 1949-2016". The New Yorker.
- ^ "Ben Lerner's First Time". The Paris Review. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
- ^ "Ben Lerner". Narrative Magazine. 2008-12-15. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-19.
- ^ a b "Ben Lerner Wins the Believer Book Award". Archived from the original on 3 January 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- ^ Dyer, Geoff (2012-07-05). "Leaving the Atocha Station by Ben Lerner – review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2016-11-21. Retrieved 2016-12-11.
- ^ a b The Paris Review (2014-03-12). "Emma Cline Wins Plimpton Prize; Ben Lerner Wins Terry Southern Prize". The Paris Review. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- ^ Nelson, Maggie (August 24, 2014). "Slipping the Surly Bonds of Earth: On Ben Lerner's Latest". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 2019-10-09.
- ^ Hallberg, Garth Risk (2019-10-03). "Ben Lerner's 'The Topeka School' Revisits the Debates of the '90s". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-10-05.
- ^ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/22/books/review/best-books.html
- ^ a b "Ben Lerner - John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation". Archived from the original on 2013-04-15. Retrieved 2013-04-12.
- ^ Maher, John (May 4, 2020). "Moser, Whitehead, McDaniel, Grandin, Boyer, Brown Win 2020 Pulitzers". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
- ^ Javadizadeh, Kamran. "Close Encounters". The New Yorker. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ Gavin, Alice (2008-04-16). "The 'angle of immunity': face and façade in Beckett's Film". Critical Quarterly. 50 (3): 77–89. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8705.2008.00833.x.
- ^ McMorris, Mark (March 2016). "The Drums of Marrakesh". Harper's Magazine. Archived from the original on 2016-05-02. Retrieved 2016-04-04.
- ^ "Brooklyn College English Department – MFA Faculty". Depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu. Archived from the original on 2011-09-03. Retrieved 2011-06-19.
- ^ Lerner, Ben (December 2023). "The Hofmann Wobble: Wikipedia and the problem of historical memory". Harper's Magazine. Vol. 347, no. 2083. pp. 27–32.
- ^ "Wikipedia and the assault on history". The Signpost. 19 (23). December 4, 2023.
- ^ "FSG's Favorite Books of 2013". Work in Progress. 2013-12-19. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- ^ "Ben Lerner", University of Pittsburgh. Archived March 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Acclaimed young poet Ben Lerner relocates to Pittsburgh. – Books – Book Reviews & Features – Pittsburgh City Paper". Pittsburghcitypaper.ws. Archived from the original on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-19.
- ^ "National Book Award 2006". Nationalbook.org. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
- ^ "Poetry Flash:NCBRAwards". Poetry Flash. Archived from the original on 2008-05-13.
- ^ "New Fellows". Brown.edu. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-19.
- ^ "Stadt Münster: Kulturamt – Lyrikertreffen". Muenster.de. Archived from the original on 17 June 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-19.
- ^ "Book Prizes – Los Angeles Times Festival of Books Los Angeles Times". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2017-06-10. Retrieved 2012-03-13.
- ^ "The New York Public Library's 2012 Young Lions Fiction Award Finalists Announced". Flavorwire. 14 March 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- ^ "2012 Saroyan Prize Shortlist". Archived from the original on 2012-05-29. Retrieved 2012-05-19.
- ^ "Finalist for the 2012 PEN/Bingham Award". Star Tribune.
- ^ "Last year's shortlist | James Tait Black Prizes". Archived from the original on 2013-04-29. Retrieved 2013-07-22.
- ^ Kellogg, Carolyn (2015-02-09). "Folio Prize shortlist includes Ben Lerner, Colm Toibin, Ali Smith". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2016-11-27. Retrieved 2014-11-26.
External links
edit- An essay about The Topeka School and Lerner's other novels at Harper's
- An excerpt from The Topeka School at The New Yorker
- Lerner's page and the MacArthur Foundation
- Lerner's page for the Griffin Poetry Prize
- An editorial by Lerner against funding cuts in higher education
- Interview with Ariana Reines in Bomb Magazine
- Lerner's page at the Guggenheim Foundation
- Lerner's National Book Award page Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine
- Lerner's page at Narrative magazine
- Interview with Lerner in The New Yorker
- Interview with Lerner in The Believer
- Interview with Lerner in Bookforum
- Interview with Lerner in The Huffington Post
- Audio of Lerner poetry reading
- "My First Time" interview with Lerner by The Paris Review