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In 2018 Hoks was a poet-in-residence at the Tomaž Šalamun Poetry Center in Ljubljana, and he has also held residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and the Millay Colony for the Arts. Hoks occasionally works as an editor and letterpress printer for Convulsive Editions, and teaches creative writing at the University of Chicago and in the MFA in Writing program at the School of the Art Institute.
Books mentioned in the interview: Wuthering Heights and Will Alexander’s Across the Vapor Gulf.
[…] Nathan Hoks spoke to us from Chicago following the recent publication of his latest book of poems titled Nests in Air. He reports that the experience of the pandemic has differed throughout various parts of the city. For him personally, the last year or so has been rather pleasant, allowing him to skip the commute and teach from home. Nests in Air was largely written in 2013 and 2016 and much of the theme is about the compression one might feel in the home space. Although written before the pandemic, the subject matter is easily related to the experience of getting through lockdown at home with one’s family. To hear more including live readings, listen to the complete interview. […]
[…] Nathan Hoks is a poet whose most recent book, Nests in Air, was published in 2021 by Black Ocean Press. Living in Chicago, he reports a mixed landscape when it came to the lockdown period. While some didn’t enjoy this time, Hoks found the ability to stay home to be a refreshing change from his usual commute. The pandemic exacerbated some of the themes of his recent book – namely the compressions of homelife. The parent of small children, his experience of lockdown was strongly infused with the daily labor of parenting. This coupled with learning how to teach online proved a steep curve in the beginning of lockdown. To hear more about this, his published works and live readings of poems from Nests in Air, listen to the complete interview. […]