The Library at MAF and Semiotext(e) Present: An Evening with Dorothea Lasky and Devendra Banhart

• September 26, 2026 | 4pm

MAF and Semiotexte(e) present a literary reading and conversation with Dorothea Lasky and Devendra Banhart. Lasky is the author of ten full-length collections of poetry and prose—most recently, MEMORY (Semiotext(e), 2025), a cycle of “poet’s essays” written in spiritual homage to Bernadette Mayer’s artwork of the same title. A singer-songwriter, poet, and visual artist, Banhart has released many acclaimed studio albums, and this fall will embark on a tour with his new collaborative musical trio, HUG. At MAF, he will be reading from his second collection of poetry, Four Nose Jobs a Day (Unnamed Press, 2026).

Dorothea Lasky is the author of over a dozen collections of poetry and prose, including, MEMORY (Semiotext(e)/ Silver Press) and Mother (Wave Books). She is also the author of the prose book Animal (Wave Books) and a future book about Sappho (Columbia University Press), as well as the editor of Essays (Essay Press) and a co-editor of Open the Door: How to Excite Young People About Poetry (McSweeney’s). Her first novel, Katie, is forthcoming from Harper Perennial. Her writing has appeared in Poetry, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, American Poetry Review, and The Paris Review, among other places. She teaches at Columbia University School of the Arts, where she directs the Poetry program.

Like Devendra Banhart’s music and visual art, his poetry appears at the convergence of humor and sorrow, tragedy and joy. With Four Nose Jobs A Day, Banhart’s second collection, the poet explores matters of the heart and soul through an absurdist lens both sly and compassionate. As the opening lines of the collection alert us, Banhart loves “a Love Poem/One that reads/Like Blackberries/On a wooden cup.” With iconoclastic verve, Banhart builds small, often silly paths of poetic language that lead to meaningful conclusions: “Poetry is when/the dead end/Starts to go somewhere” Like professional musicians constantly on tour, Banhart reminds us that we, the readers, have countless places to visit both in the world around us, and inside ourselves—whether these places resonate and register is up to us, not the places. The poems of Four Nose Jobs A Day break the surface of reality, small bubbles of insight. Sometimes there is laughter in the face of absurdity; consolation for grief or despair; and sometimes there is simply gratitude. “What an Honor,” the poet reminds us, “To have emotions/Any of them.”

Free event entry included with MAF general admission ticket.