Join us for a night of readings from Christopher Brunt and Timothy Liu, who will be reading from their latest work!

Christopher Brunt’s War at Home (saturnalia, 2024) is a mythic, surreal journey through the chaos of memory, masculinity, and transformation, where fractured selves seek redemption in the face of addiction, loss, and the haunting specter of power. With lyrical precision and raw vulnerability, this debut collection weaves fables of crisis and grace, offering a profound exploration of identity, justice, and the relentless pursuit of truth in a world teetering on the edge of collapse. Timothy Liu’s Down Low and Lowdown: Timothy Liu’s Bedside Bottom-Feeder Blues (Barrow Street Press, 2023) is a masterful exploration of the blues as both a lament and a lifeline, weaving together themes of loss, desire, and survival with raw, lyrical precision. Through a tapestry of elegies, odes, and pandemic reflections, Liu captures the essence of American life in all its chaos and beauty, meditating on time, memory, and finding meaning in the face of despair.

About the poets:

Christopher Brunt is the author of the poetry collection WAR AT HOME (Saturnalia Books 2024), a finalist for the Alma Book Prize. His poetry, fiction, and essays have been featured in Ploughshares, The Nation,Oxford American, Fugue, Meridian, Copper Nickel, the Cincinnati Review, and other magazines. He has been a finalist for the Saturnalia Book Award, the Marsh Hawk Poetry Prize, and the St. Lawrence Book Award, and shortlisted for the Christopher Smart Poetry Prize. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, he has an MFA from Syracuse University and a PhD in English from the University of Southern Mississippi. He currently teaches literature and creative writing at Syracuse University, and is the creator and host of PODRE, a podcast on fatherhood, recovery, and the creative life. 

Timothy Liu is the author of numerous poetry collections, including Down Low and Lowdown (Barrow Street Press, 2023) and Luminous Debris: New & Selected Legerdemain 1992–2017. His work has appeared in American Poetry Review and Ploughshares, and he is the editor of Word of Mouth: An Anthology of Gay American Poetry. Born in San Jose, California, to Chinese immigrant parents, Liu earned degrees from Brigham Young University and the University of Houston and spent two years as a missionary in Hong Kong. His poetry explores themes of identity, violence, and sexuality, often engaging with cultural taboos. Liu teaches at SUNY New Paltz and lives in the Hudson Valley, New York.