Patrick Lannan died Wednesday, July 27, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with his wife Andrea and daughter Sharron by his side. 

In lieu of the significant tribute he deserves — and to which he would’ve strongly objected — for now, in this moment of loss and our collective grief, we can only offer the words of Seamus Heaney:

Postscript

And some time make the time to drive out west
Into County Clare, along the Flaggy Shore,
In September or October, when the wind
And the light are working off each other
So that the ocean on one side is wild
With foam and glitter, and inland among stones
The surface of a slate-grey lake is lit
By the earthed lightning of a flock of swans,
Their feathers roughed and ruffling, white on white,
Their fully grown headstrong-looking heads
Tucked or cresting or busy underwater.
Useless to think you’ll park and capture it
More thoroughly. You are neither here nor there,
A hurry through which known and strange things pass
As big soft buffetings come at the car sideways
And catch the heart off guard and blow it open.

22 April 2022 – Lannan Foundation today announced plans to close by 2032 and spend out all assets. 

For more information, please read our announcement. 

Lannan honors established and emerging writers of distinctive literary merit:

Yusef Komunyakaa: Literary Award for Lifetime Achievement
Rabih Alameddine: Literary Award
Deborah Levy: Literary Award
Afia Atakora: Literary Fellowship
Cameron Awkward-Rich: Literary Fellowship
Eduardo C. Corral: Literary Fellowship
Kirstin Valdez Quade: Literary Fellowship

Nick Estes and Rebecca Nagle had an urgent discussion of the ongoing attack on Indigenous children and Indigenous land. This was a virtual event in partnership with Haymarket Books.

Angela Y. Davis, Mike Davis, and Ruth Wilson Gilmore joined author Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor for an urgent conversation on abolition, cultural freedom, and liberation. Watch it here.

Hear Noam Chomsky's recent talk and conversation with E. Tammy Kim on the brutal realities laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic—and the urgent need for an alternative to capitalism.

Lannan is a supporter of Michael Silverblatt’s long-running interview series on KCRW, Bookworm. In this interview, Michael speaks with poet Atsuro Riley about his latest collection Heard-Hoard.

Follow this external link to listen to the full episode at KCRW.

Photo by Sven Wiederholt.

Lannan has recently acquired the entire Relicarios collection from Erika Diettes of Bogotá, Colombia. Shown here are #54 and #43, from the series of 56.

Medium:
Mixed media with objects embedded in rubber tripolymer encased in a lighted Plexiglas urn

West Texas Talk — Marfa Public Radio’s flagship program — features discussions about regional issues as well as conversations with writers, musicians, filmmakers, and artists, including interviews with Lannan poets and writers in residence. Visit their archive here.