Kenneth Koch Centennial: A Gathering
The Flow Chart Foundation is honored to present a daylong Gathering celebrating the legacy of Kenneth Koch on the occasion of his Centennial, featuring talks, readings, screenings, and short performances.
This fourth annual Flow Chart Gathering event will take place at the Flow Chart Space in Hudson, NY, on Saturday, May 17, 2025 celebrating the life and work of this world-renowned poet, teacher, playwright, fiction writer, and collaborator.
Guest speakers include: Andrew Epstein, Anthony Atlas, David Lehman, Dorothea Lasky, Emily Setina, Jordan Davis, Mitch Sisskind, and Susannah Hollister.
Performers & playwrights include: Corinne Donly, Diane Exavier, Jess Barbagallo, Ry Cook, Erin Courtney, Jess Barbagallo, Karinne Keithley Syers, Kate Kremer, Lisa Clair, Lucas Baisch, Nazareth Hassan, and Rachel Kauder Nalebuff.
Special thanks to the Koch Estate.
SPACE IS LIMITED. REGISTER IN ADVANCE!
We highly recommend that you register for this event. Your registration allows you to attend the full day, or any event throughout the day. Should you be unable to attend after you registered, we kindly request that you cancel your registration. Information about traveling to/from Hudson, including lodging and dining suggestions can be found on the Gathering event page.
SCHEDULE (subject to change):
[10am—bagels & coffee]
11am–11:15am — Welcome by Mandana Chaffa and Justin Jamail
11:15am–12:00pm — Presentation I: Andrew Epstein and Jordan Davis on Working with Kenneth Koch
[12:00pm–1:00pm — lunch break]
1:00pm–1:45pm — Presentation II: Anthony Atlas on Art Collaborations
1:45pm–2:30pm —Presentation III: Dorothea Lasky on Making Your Own Days; Kenneth Koch and Education
[2:30pm–2:45pm — coffee break]
2:45pm–3:30pm — Presentation IV: Emily Setina & Susannah Hollister on TBA
3:30pm–4:15pm— Presentation V: David Lehman and Mitch Sisskind on Remembering Kenneth Koch
[4:15pm–5:00pm — break]
5:00pm–6:30pm — 1,000 Avant Garde Plays: A series of performances of Koch plays alongside the works of contemporary playwrights. Featuring (subject to change): Erin Courtney, Jess Barbagallo, Karinne Keithley Syers, Lisa Clair, Lucas Baisch, Nazareth Hassan, Rachel Kauder Nalebuff, Ry Cook, Diane Exavier, and Zach Savich.
On Kenneth Koch:
During his lifetime, Koch published more than a dozen collections of poems including Thank You, The Pleasures of Peace, The Art of Love, Days and Nights, One Train, and New Addresses. Among his posthumous volumes are Collected Poems, On the Edge: Collected Long Poems, The Banquet: Collected Plays and The Collected Fiction of Kenneth Koch. He is also the author of two trailblazing books on teaching writing to children, Wishes, Lies and Dreams and Rose, Where Did You Get That Red? Koch received the Library of Congress’ Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry and the Bollingen Prize for Poetry. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, received Fulbright and Guggenheim fellowships, and was named Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. Koch’s teaching career in New York, beginning with three years at Brooklyn College and nine years at the New School, concluded at Columbia, where he taught from 1959 until 2002.