Wayne Koestenbaum

A versatile writer and performer, Wayne Koestenbaum brings a sharp intelligence and inimitable style to his work. His books include poetry collections such as The Pink Trance Notebooks (2015) and prose works such as Humiliation (2011) and Hotel Theory (2007). Recently Koestenbaum has been writing an ongoing series of fables that take certain artworks as catalysts. For this program, Koestenbaum moves between spoken and musical components: part reading, part improvisation.

Wayne Koestenbaum has published eighteen books of poetry, criticism, and fiction, including Notes on Glaze, The Pink Trance Notebooks, My 1980s & Other Essays, Hotel Theory, Best-Selling Jewish Porn Films, Andy Warhol, Humiliation, Jackie Under My Skin, and The Queen’s Throat (a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist). He has had solo exhibitions of his paintings at White Columns (New York), 356 Mission (L.A.), and the University of Kentucky Art Museum. His first piano/vocal record, Lounge Act, was issued by Ugly Duckling Presse Records this year; he has given musical performances at The Kitchen, REDCAT, Centre Pompidou, and The Walker Art Center. He is a Distinguished Professor of English, Comparative Literature, and French at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City.