Southwest Review brings together Ryan Davis, Cassandra Jenkins, Brett Eugene Ralph, and Lee Ranaldo for a conversation celebrating the music, poetry, and enduring influence of David Berman. Best known as the founder and frontman of Silver Jews and later Purple Mountains, Berman created a singular body of work in which songwriting and poetry were inseparable, combining wit, melancholy, observation, and an unmistakable way of finding meaning in everyday American life.
Moderated by Jacob Rubin, the conversation will explore Berman’s work as both a musician and poet, his influence on generations of writers and songwriters, and the ways his words continue to resonate after his death. A gathering around one of the most distinctive voices in American independent music and literature.
