Local Literature Scholar to Recite Translations of Belgian Poet’s Works

The Weinberg Memorial Library will host a reading of poems translated from “The Book of Snow” on Thursday, Feb. 10, at 7:30 p.m. Philip Mosley, Ph.D., professor of English and comparative literature at Penn State Worthington in Scranton, will perform a reading of Belgian poet François Jacqmin’s works while accompanied by classical guitar punctuations by Jason Smeltzer in the fifth-floor Heritage Room of the library. The reading is free of charge and open to the public.

According to Dr. Mosley, Jacqmin, whose poetry can be described as elemental, philosophical and witty, is considered one of the foremost Belgian francophone poets of the last 50 years.

Dr. Mosley translated the poems from Jacqmin’s “The Book of the Snow,” a volume of 112 ten-line poems. Arc Publications, United Kingdom, recently published the translations as part of a bilingual edition of its “Visible Poets” series.

Dr. Mosley is an associate editor of Comparative Literature Studies and a member of the board of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council. His latest book, “The Cinema of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne: Responsible Realism,” is forthcoming from Wallflower Press in London.  He has translated several Belgian authors from French to English and was awarded the 2008 Literary Translation Prize by the French Community of Belgium in recognition of his contribution to the publication of Belgian francophone literature. 

A native of England who immigrated to the United States in 1988, Dr. Mosley earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Leeds, a master’s degree in European literature and a doctorate in comparative literature, both from the University of East Anglia.

For additional information, contact Michael Knies, special collections librarian, at 941-6341.