John Yau, writer and associate professor of critical studies at Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, will read from his work on Thursday, Dec. 1, at 8 p.m., in the Red Pit, KJ. Sponsored by the Dean of Faculty Office, the event is part of the English and creative writing department’s fall reading series. It is free and open to the public.
Yau is a poet, fiction writer, art critic, publisher of Black Square Editions and freelance curator who has published more than 30 books of poetry, fiction and art criticism. Crossing Canal Street, his first collection of poetry, was published in 1976. His reviews have appeared in Artforum, Art in America, Art News, Bookforum and the Los Angeles Times. His writing appears regularly in Art on Paper, American Poetry Review and The Brooklyn Rail.
Yau earned his bachelor’s degree from Bard College and his master of fine arts from Brooklyn College. He has received grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, Foundation for Contemporary Performance Art, Peter S. Reed Foundation and the Ingram Merrill Foundation. His awards include a General Electric Foundation Award, a Lavan Award from the Academy of American Poets and the Brendan Gill Award. In 2002, he was named a Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government.
