The Black Mountain Institute will host a reading by Maggie Nelson from her latest book, Pathemata: Or, The Story of My Mouth, on Nov. 19, 2026, from 7 to 9 p.m. in HOS 382.
In the book, Nelson explores parenthood, caregiving, the body, aging, loneliness, and mortality. The Guardian describes the work as one in which “the narrative jumps in time, and the lines between reality, dreams and fiction blur.”
Nelson is a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, poet, and essayist based in Los Angeles, where she teaches at the University of Southern California. She is the author of 12 genre-defying books of poetry and prose, including The Argonauts, a hybrid memoir about love and queer family-making that won the National Book Critics Circle Award and was named one of the 100 best books of the 21st century by The New York Times. Her book Bluets, a meditation on the color blue and grief, was named one of Bookforum’s 10 best books of the past 20 years and adapted for the stage at London's Royal Court Theatre in 2024.
The event is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
