Five poets included in The New Census: An Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry, the new book from Rescue Press, will read at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8, in a free reading at Prairie Lights Books in downtown Iowa City. The reading also will be streamed live on the University of Iowa Writing University website.

The reading will feature five of the 40 poets published in the anthology: Carrie Olivia Adams, Chris Martin, Adrian Matejka, Robyn Schiff (associate professor in the UI Department of English and director of undergraduate writing), and Nick Twemlow (distance learning instructor with the UI International Writing Program). Their work, like the anthology itself, spans a wide array of sensibilities and forms. We will hear Adams’ kaleidoscopic meditation, Martin’s buoyant cadence, Matejka’s incisive hooks, Schiff’s intricate alertness, and Twemlow’s dynamic precision, all gathered under one roof.

Adams’ interactive Forty-One Jane Doe’s was released by Ahsahta Press earlier this year; Chris Martin’s Becoming Weather is recently out from Coffee House Press; Adrian Matejka’s The Big Smoke is currently a National Book Award finalist; Schiff’s Revolver was a finalist for the 2008 PEN Award; and Twemlow’s Palm Trees recently won the Norma Farber First Book Award from the Poetry Society of America.

The Department of English is part of the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all UI-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, call Jan Weissmiller at Prairie Lights in advance at 319-337-2681.

For a UI arts calendar and details about upcoming events visit the Arts Iowa website.