Benjamin Lerner
Distinguished Professor
English

Ben Lerner is the author of three books of poetry (The Lichtenberg Figures, Angle of Yaw, and Mean Free Path), three novels (Leaving the Atocha Station, 10:04, and The Topeka School), and a work of criticism, The Hatred of Poetry. He has also published several collaborations with artists, including Blossom (with Thomas Demand) and The Snows of Venice (with Alexander Kluge). His critical writing on art and literature can be found in boundary 2, Harper's, Poetry, The London Review of Books, and The New Yorker, among many other periodicals.
Lerner has received fellowships from the Fulbright, Guggenheim, Howard, and MacArthur Foundations. He has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize (fiction), the National Book Award (poetry), and the National Book Critics Circle Award (fiction). Recent honors include the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for The Topeka School, which was named one of the ten best books of the year by The New York Times.
Show Scholarly Activities and Professional Accomplishments
Education:
M.F.A., Brown University - 2003 (Creative Writing)
B.A., Brown University - 2001 (Political Science)
Areas of Expertise:
Lerner's primary interests are in 20th-century and contemporary poetry and poetics and the relation of those fields to the novel and the visual arts.
Books and Publications
Keeping / the window open: Interviews, alarms, excursions (on Keith and Rosmarie Waldrop) (Books and Publications: Book (Edited)) 2019
The Topeka School (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2019
The Polish Rider (with Anna Ostoya) (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2018
The Snows of Venice (with Alexander Kluge) (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2018
Untitled Triptych (with Wendy Mark) (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2017
The Hatred of Poetry (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2016
Blossom (with Thomas Demand) (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2015
10:04 (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2014
Leaving the Atocha Station (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2011
Mean Free Path (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2010
Angle of Yaw (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2006
The Lichtenberg Figures (Books and Publications: Book (Authored)) 2001
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