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Ben Lerner

ベン・ラーナー

Ben Lerner

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1979-02-04 （Topeka, Kansas, U.S.）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Topeka, Kansas (origin) → Madrid (Fulbright residency) → Pittsburgh (teaching) → Brooklyn, New York (teaching)

Career

Occupations
poet, novelist, essayist, critic, professor
Active Years
2000-
Affiliations
Brooklyn College, Department of English, California College of the Arts (teaching), University of Pittsburgh (teaching)
Influenced By
C. D. Wright

Education

Topeka High School
Period: 〜1997
Year of Graduation: 1997
Country: United States
Participated in debate and forensics; national tournament winner in 1997
Brown University
Political theory (BA) / Poetry (MFA)
Degree: B.A., M.F.A.
Period: 1997–2004 (学位取得含む)
Year of Graduation: 2004
Country: United States
Studied with C. D. Wright

Awards

Hayden Carruth Award
2003
Work: The Lichtenberg Figures
Organization: Hayden Carruth Award / Copper Canyon Press
Result: 受賞
Fulbright Fellowship
2003
Organization: Fulbright Program
Result: 受給（2003–2004）
National Book Award (Poetry) — Finalist
2006
Work: Angle of Yaw
Category: 詩
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: 最終候補
Kansas Notable Book Award
2007
Work: Angle of Yaw
Organization: Kansas Notable Book Awards
Result: 受賞
Believer Book Award
2012
Work: Leaving the Atocha Station
Organization: The Believer
Result: 受賞
Terry Southern Prize (The Paris Review)
2014
Work: Excerpt from 10:04
Organization: The Paris Review
Result: 受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship
2013
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: 受賞
MacArthur Fellowship
2015
Organization: MacArthur Foundation
Result: 受賞（フェロー）
Los Angeles Times Book Prize (Fiction)
2019
Work: The Topeka School
Category: フィクション
Organization: Los Angeles Times
Result: 受賞
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction — Finalist
2020
Work: The Topeka School
Category: フィクション
Organization: Pulitzer Prize Board
Result: 最終候補
Kansas Notable Book Award (2019)
2019
Work: The Topeka School
Organization: Kansas Notable Book Awards
Result: 受賞
Folio Prize — Finalist
2014
Work: 10:04
Organization: Folio Prize
Result: 最終候補
Named one of Granta's best young American novelists
2017
Organization: Granta
Result: 選出
The Griffin Prize — Longlisted
2024
Category: 詩
Organization: Griffin Poetry Prize
Result: ロングリスト

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Lichtenberg Figures

2004 Poetry (sonnet cycle)

A cycle of 52 sonnets characterized by formal experiment and intersections of personal and scientific imagery.

identityscientific imageryformal experimentation

Angle of Yaw

2006 Poetry

Second book of poems written during a Madrid residency; critically acclaimed and a National Book Award finalist.

movementlanguage and placeself-awareness

Mean Free Path

2010 Poetry

A third collection of poems featuring poetic experiment and fragmentary narration.

physical metaphorsfragmentation

Leaving the Atocha Station

2011 Novel (debut)

A debut novel with strong autobiographical elements about youth, self-consciousness, and the art world; critically acclaimed.

youthful dislocationlanguage and expressionself as observer

10:04

2014 Novel (experimental)

An experimental novel following a poet-writer narrator that explores urban life, health, and futurity; excerpts won the Terry Southern Prize.

the cityhealth and illnesstime/future

The Topeka School

2019 Novel 352 pages

A three-part novel about adolescence, language, and political transformation; incisive depiction of contemporary American unrest and the recipient of wide acclaim and award recognition.

adolescencediscourse and politicsfamily history

The Lights

2023 Poetry (verse and prose poems)

A collection of verse and prose poems praised for its multiple perspectives, histories, and intimacies.

memorydialogue with otherspoetry and voice

Bibliography

  • The Lichtenberg Figures (2004)
  • Angle of Yaw (2006)
  • Mean Free Path (2010)
  • Leaving the Atocha Station (2011)
  • 10:04 (2014)
  • The Topeka School (2019)
  • The Lights (2023)
  • Transcription (expected 2026)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
poetic and experimental stylemetafictional techniquesself-referential and critical tone
Recurring Motifs
language and identitymemory and historyadolescence and family

Legacy

An influential contemporary American poet, novelist, and critic whose experimental work blurs the boundaries between poetry and fiction; also recognized for his contributions as an educator.

Quotes

  • "a work so luminously original in style and form as to seem like a premonition, a comet from the future."
    Source: Geoff Dyer (The Guardian) (2012)
  • "a near perfect piece of literature."
    Source: Maggie Nelson (Los Angeles Review of Books) (2014)
  • "a high-water mark in recent American fiction."
    Source: The New York Times (review) (2019)

Trivia

  • Mother is clinical psychologist Harriet Lerner.
  • Named a MacArthur Fellow in 2015.
  • Teaches at Brooklyn College.