Henri Cole

HENRI COLE was born in Fukuoka, Japan to an American father stationed overseas during military service and a French-Armenian mother.  He grew up hearing three languages spoken in the house, and suspects this had something to do with his delight in listening to the sounds and rhythms of language.  In his poems, Cole looks inward with the same intensity as our most emotionally explosive “confessional” poets.  But unlike many of the poets lumped together under that category, his voice is calm and tempered by compassion.  Henri Cole has published eight collections of poetry, including Touch and Pierce the Skin: Selected Poems 1982-2007 (2011) and Middle Earth (2004) which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry.  He has received many awards, including the Kingsley Tufts Award, the Rome Prize, the Berlin Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Lenore Marshall Award.

Visit his website here.

Click here to read our blog about Henri Cole.  

Schedule

THURSDAY

11:00-12:15
Reading and Conversation
Henri Cole, Nicky Beer, Nikky Finney
New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s Victoria Theatre

2:00-3:15pm
Conversation: A Music of Pause
Henri Cole, Gregory Orr, Arthur Sze
First Peddie Baptist Memorial Church

7:30-10:00
POETRY SAMPLER
Richard Blanco, Eavan Boland, Henri Cole, Sharon Dolin, Nikky Finney, Terrance Hayes, Juan Felipe Herrera, Jane Hirshfield, Fanny Howe, Kurtis Lamkin, Dorianne Laux, Ada Limón, Thomas Lux, Rachel McKibbens, Taylor Mali, Joseph Millar, Idra Novey, Gregory Orr, Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Patricia Smith, Arthur Sze, Larissa Szporluk, Natasha Trethewey, C.K. Williams, Raúl Zurita
Prudential Hall
 

FRIDAY

9:30-10:30am
Festival Poet Readings
Brian Barker, Henri Cole, Sharon Dolin, Nikky Finney, John Murillo
Victoria Theatre

10:50-11:50am
Conversation: Going Public with Private Feelings
Richard Blanco, Eavan Boland, Henri Cole
North Star Academy Great Room 

1:30-2:30pm
Poets on Poetry
Henri Cole
Trinity & St. Philips Cathedral
 

SATURDAY

9:00-10:10
Conversation: Mirror Blossom Urn Collage
Henri Cole, Terrance Hayes, Fanny Howe, Larissa Szporluk
Victoria Theatre

10:30-11:40
Conversation: Poetry and Pride
Dan Bellm, Henri Cole, Nikky Finney, Timothy Liu
Victoria Theatre

6:30-9:30
Readings & Music
Nikky Finney, Henri Cole, Dorianne Laux, C. K. Williams, Patricia Smith, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Quartet
Prudential Hall
 

SUNDAY

9:00-10:10
Conversation: Poetry and Presence
Henri Cole, Jane Hirshfield, Arthur Sze
Victoria Theatre

12:00-1:10
Conversation: On Craft
Henri Cole
Chase Room