Joshua Rivkin Shares his Poetry with the JCU Community

Joshua Rivkin

Joshua Rivkin

On Tuesday, June 17, the JCU Institute for Creative Writing and Literary Translation welcomed poet Joshua Rivkin for a reading.

Rivkin is currently a Fulbright Scholar in Rome and is working on a nonfiction book about the life and works of painter and graffiti artist Cy Twombly. He shared poems from his book Suitors, which is a reflection on family, history and desire.

Rivkin also read poems from First Year, a six-part collection about his daughter. He told the audience that previously he had resisted writing about his daughter until coming to Rome. He explained that the city’s character, history, and playfulness pushed him to explore what it meant to be a father.

The reading was followed by a question and answer session. Students from the Summer Creative Writing Institute asked about style and personal voice development. Rivkin encouraged the young writers to write passionately and about familiar subjects.

Learn more about studying English Language and Literature at John Cabot University in Rome.Learn more about studying Creative Writing at John Cabot University in Rome.