Book Launch: Etymologies by Walter Ancarrow
Hear work from Mark Faunlagui, Rachel Han, and the author himself. There will be light refreshments and copies of Etymologies available for purchase.
Praise: “Walter Ancarrow’s debut collection, Etymologies, doesn’t stop with the Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology and Merriam-Webster for inspiration; sources also include The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers and Arabs: A 3,000 Year History of Peoples, Tribes, and Empires. Ancarrow’s Etymologies, mostly comprised of brief prose pieces, opens with three words: ’ahuakatl/aguacate/avocado,’ encompassing Aztec origins, Spanish colonialism, and branding at the hands of California farmers in the early twentieth century. This entry, and the collection’s closing two words ’banana/banana’ — which follows, from the previous page, ’A search ensued for the loose word, that if pulled out, would cause indescribable destruction’ — frame the book’s imaginative linguistic dives.” — Poetry Foundation
Author bio: Walter Ancarrow lives in New York City and sometimes Alexandria, Egypt. He is the author of Etymologies (Omnidawn, April 2023) selected by John Yau as the winner of the Omnidawn Open, and runner-up in the 2021 92Y Discovery Prize for emerging writers.
Time: 6:00-7:00 pm EDR
Free!
