Notes From Irrelevance

Berrigan's audience is deservedly broad and loyal: he is among the most respected and well-known poets writing in America today, both for his work, which unceasingly challenges language and the role of the writer-citizen, and for the many hats he wears as editor, educator, and curator. Berrigan comes from a family intimately tied to 20th century poetics: his mother is acclaimed poet Alice Notley, his father, the acclaimed late poet Ted Berrigan. Berrigan served as Artistic Director of the legendary Poetry Project at St. Marks Church (2004-2007), and hosted its venerated and well-attended Wednesday Night Reading Series. He is poetry editor for The Brooklyn Rail and Co-Chair of Writing at the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts. He also teaches at Pratt Institute and Brooklyn College. Berrigan was a New York State Foundation for the Arts fellow in Poetry, and has received two grants from the Fund for Poetry. Notes From Irrelevance has nearly limitless possibilities for teaching; its multiple points of entry including the juxtaposition of love for and mistrust of language, its interest in philosophy, politics, and the subjectivity of being in the world, all of which are very current topics of discussion in poetry today.