Robert Lax will be the focus of two New York events this weekend:
1. 2-7 p.m., Saturday, September 19, at Corpus Christi Church, 529 West 121st Street (just east of Broadway):
Pure Act:
“New Words for God”–The Uncommon Lives of Thomas Merton and Robert Lax
A celebration of the the 100th birthdays of Robert Lax and Thomas Merton, the 15th anniversary of the Corpus Christi Chapter of the International Thomas Merton Society, and the 15th anniversary of Robert Lax’s death.
Michael McGregor, author of Pure Act: The Uncommon Life of Robert Lax will present the featured talk.
The responding panelists will be:
John Beer, a poet and Portland State University professor, who served as Lax’s literary assistant on the island of Patmos in the late 1990s and edited Lax’s 2013 collection poems (1962-1997).
Judith Emery, a longtime Lax friend and editor of two of his books.
Marcia Kelly, an author and Lax’s niece.
The main presentation will be followed by a Mass at 5 p.m. and a gala reception after that.
Free for members of the Corpus Christi ITMS chapter. $10 for non-members.
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2. 7-8:30 p.m. on Monday, September 21, at McNally Jackson Books, 52 Prince Street:
A Celebration of Robert Lax
To mark the publication of the Lax biography Pure Act: The Uncommon Life of Robert Lax
Readings from writings by and about Robert Lax, with:
Michael McGregor, author Pure Act: The Uncommon Life of Robert Lax
C. K. Williams, poet and recipient of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award for Poetry
Richard Kostelanetz, multi-talented writer and artist, who once praised Lax as “a true minimalist who can weave awesome poems from remarkably few words.”
Paolo Javier, former poet laureate of Queens and author of Court of the Dragon
John Beer, poet, Lax editor and author of The Waste Land and Other Poems
Marcia Kelly, Lax niece and co-author of 100 Graces: Mealtime Blessings