GREAT IMAGINATIONS

We know he grew up in Philly. Always wanted to be writer; can’t remember exactly when or how it all started though. Could have been junior year in high school when “an inspired teacher assigned Robert Penn Warren’s All the Kings Men.” Maybe. We know he published a short story in1988 about a guy becoming initiated as a teacher and (though we can’t be sure) he suspects himself of writing some bad poetry during that time. Can’t think of much more than that though, and he’s sorry. But Dr. Benjamin Goluboff, today an English professor at Lake Forest College and author of many acclaimed creative and scholarly works, has nothing to apologize for. His words may be minimal but they are delivered with purpose, delicious detail, and sometimes—as was the case with his recent Citizens of Ordinary Time collaboration with fellow poet Mark Luebbers—a brilliant level of imagination that elevates the lives of historical figures into a work of “speculative biographical poetry.” As explained in the opening to the 2023 book, this form of poetry is “narrative verse in which imaginary events are written into the life of a historically verifiable person.” They are poems, as he and Luebbers write, “that make music from the data of our subjects’ lives even as they amend, extend, or redirect the narrative of those lives. In dialogue with the factual record, but unfaithful to it when it suits them, speculative biographical poems ply a devious course among the particulars of a life.” It’s the ultimate homage, this collection of imaginings into the lives of poets, artists, and musicians, including Bill Evans, a Goluboff favorite. “At war with his addictions, at war with the conventions of his music, the only white guy in the classic Miles Davis quintet, Evans is a great subject for Mark’s and my kind of writing,” says Goluboff, who in addition to scholarly articles on a variety of topics in American literature, has published a long string of poems, stories, and first-person essays over the last three decades. “We’re very happy with Citizens. It turned out beautifully and we both had a lot of fun, but writers are often more focused on the next project … we both have some cool new projects in the works.” As for his personal life, we know he lives in Chicago’s Ravenswood neighborhood; takes the train to Lake Forest. “I find the Metra commute between town and country to be very good for the mind,” he says. “My favorite thing about Lake Forest is the woods. I can often be found lurking in Shaw Prairie, Middle Fork Savannah, and the college ravines.” We also know he leads highly engaging book discussion groups on the North Shore and Chicago’s north side. Were we to follow Goluboff ’s lead, we might be tempted fill in the rest of those missing details—to “ply a devious course” that imagines him befriending ordinary citizens in, let’s say, Kelly green Impalas and other yet-tobe- written scenes along the way. For now, we’re just eager to finish that book about the lives of poets we do know. Maybe. It’s just speculation, after all.

Citizens of Ordinary Time is available at Lake Forest Bookstore and other booksellers, including amazon.com.