Tunxis invites the community to an Afternoon of Poetry and Music with celebrated author Brian Turner, this year’s touring poet for the Connecticut Poetry Circuit, on Thursday, October 29, from 12-1 p.m. in Founders Hall. A discussion and book signing will follow the reading. Free, with jazz music and light refreshments. Books will be available for purchase. 

Turner’s latest book, “My Life as a Foreign Country: A Memoir,” (Jonathan Cape/Random House UK, W.W. Norton & Co., 2014) recounts in detail his war experience in Iraq, from predeployment to combat and the aftermath. 

His two collections of poetry, bestselling “Here, Bullet” (Alice James Bookes, 2005; Bloodaxe Books, 2007) and “Phantom Noise” (Alice James Books, Bloodaxe Books, 2010) have been published and translated in Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Polish, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, and Swedish. Turner has received dozens of awards and other recognition for “Phantom Noise,” including the 2005 Beatrice Hawley Award, the 2006 PEN Center USA Literary Award in Poetry, the 2007 Poet’s Prize, and an “Editor’s Choice” selection from The New York Times. His poetry and essays have been published in The New York Times, National Geographic, Poetry Daily, and other journals. 

Turner earned a master of fine arts degree from the University of Oregon before serving for seven years in the U.S. Army. He was an infantry team leader for a year in Iraq with the 3^rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2^nd Infantry Division. Prior to that, he served in Bosnia-Herzegovina with the 10^th Mountain Division. He directs the MFA program at Sierra Nevada College and serves as a contributing editor at literary magazine The Normal School. 

The event is part of an ongoing Tunxis Humanities Series offered throughout the year. For more information, contact Carol Mahmood at 860.773.1624 or [email protected]. Tunxis is located at the junction of Routes 6 and 177 in Farmington. For map and directions, visit the Tunxis website at tunxis.edu/directions.