{"id":94438,"date":"2016-02-16T11:21:56","date_gmt":"2016-02-16T16:21:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=94438"},"modified":"2016-02-16T12:22:48","modified_gmt":"2016-02-16T17:22:48","slug":"ben-lerner-on-the-lichtenberg-figures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/16\/ben-lerner-on-the-lichtenberg-figures\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Lerner on <i>The Lichtenberg Figures<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zZW49zCMDy8\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"blog-copy\">\n<p>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/myfirsttime\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>My First Time<\/strong><\/a>\u201d is a \u00a0video series in which we invite authors to discuss the trials of writing and publishing their first books. Consider it a chance to see how successful writers got their start, in their own words\u2014it\u2019s a portrait of the artist as a beginner and a look at the creative process, in all its joy, abjection, delusion, and euphoria.<\/p>\n<p>This installment stars <b>Ben Lerner<\/b>, poet and novelist. While an undergraduate at Brown\u2014and later as an M.F.A. student\u2014Lerner wrote the cycle of fifty-two\u00a0sonnets that would become 2004\u2019s\u00a0<em>The Lichtenberg Figure<\/em><i>s<\/i>. At the time, he and roommate Cyrus Console were, says Lerner, \u201calways writing under the sign of crisis &#8230; now when I look back, we had a kind of really intense practice.\u201d He discusses the process of imposing form, his thematic inspirations, and the challenges of taking one\u2019s place in the creative universe. \u201cWith the first book, you don\u2019t really know if you can do it. You have a kind of constant anxiety about whether or not you have something to contribute to the conversation. And that anxiety\u2014it can ruin your life, but it\u2019s also really generative. Like, it\u2019s a kind of discipline.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"blog-copy\">\n<p>This series is made by the filmmakers\u00a0<strong>Tom Bean<\/strong>,\u00a0<strong>Casey Brooks<\/strong>, and\u00a0<strong>Luke Poling<\/strong>; we\u2019re delighted to collaborate with them. Be sure to watch the previous interviews in the series:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/11\/18\/katori-hall-on-hoodoo-love\/\" target=\"_blank\">Katori Hall<\/a><\/strong>, on\u00a0<em>Hoodoo Love<\/em>, her first play<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/11\/17\/donald-antrim-on-elect-mr-robinson-for-a-better-world\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Donald Antrim<\/strong><\/a> on <i>Elect Mr. Robinson for a Better World<\/i>, his first novel<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/08\/20\/sheila-heti-on-the-middle-stories\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Sheila Heti<\/strong><\/a> on <em>The Middle Stories<\/em>, her first collection<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/08\/18\/tao-lin-on-bed\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Tao Lin<\/strong><\/a> on <em>Bed<\/em>, his first collection<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/29\/christine-schutt-on-nightwork\/\"><strong>Christine Schutt<\/strong><\/a> on <em>Nightwork<\/em>, her first collection<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/tag\/branden-jacobs-jenkins\/\"><strong>Branden Jacobs-Jenkins<\/strong><\/a> on his play <em>Neighbors<\/em><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/27\/gabrielle-bell-on-her-book-of-series\/\"><strong>Gabrielle Bell<\/strong><\/a> on\u00a0<em>The Book of &#8230;<\/em> series, her early cartoons<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2015\/05\/26\/j-robert-lennon-on-the-light-of-the-falling-stars\/\"><strong>J. Robert Lennon<\/strong><\/a> on his debut novel, <em>The Light of Falling Stars<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cMy First Time\u201d is a \u00a0video series in which we invite authors to discuss the trials of writing and publishing their first books. Consider it a chance to see how successful writers got their start, in their own words\u2014it\u2019s a portrait of the artist as a beginner and a look at the creative process, in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18205],"tags":[3263,689,1132,536,18206,165,272,21181,7214,75],"class_list":["post-94438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-my-first-time","tag-ben-lerner","tag-craft","tag-interviews","tag-mfa","tag-my-first-time","tag-poetry","tag-publishing","tag-the-lichtenberg-figures","tag-videos","tag-writing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.4 (Yoast SEO v25.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Watch: Ben Lerner Remembers Writing His First Poetry Collection<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For our My First Time series, Lerner discusses \u201cThe Lichtenberg Figures,\u201d his 2004 debut.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/16\/ben-lerner-on-the-lichtenberg-figures\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ben Lerner on The Lichtenberg Figures by Sadie Stein\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"February 16, 2016 \u2013 \u201cMy First Time\u201d is a \u00a0video series in which we invite authors to discuss the trials of writing and publishing their first books. Consider it a chance to\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/16\/ben-lerner-on-the-lichtenberg-figures\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-16T16:21:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-02-16T17:22:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sadie Stein\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@parisreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sadie Stein\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/16\/ben-lerner-on-the-lichtenberg-figures\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/16\/ben-lerner-on-the-lichtenberg-figures\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sadie Stein\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a1aef49f81bfc540a37e03590f3bb4d9\"},\"headline\":\"Ben Lerner on The Lichtenberg Figures\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-16T16:21:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-02-16T17:22:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/16\/ben-lerner-on-the-lichtenberg-figures\/\"},\"wordCount\":316,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Ben Lerner\",\"craft\",\"interviews\",\"MFA\",\"My First Time\",\"poetry\",\"publishing\",\"The Lichtenberg Figures\",\"videos\",\"writing\"],\"articleSection\":[\"My First Time\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/16\/ben-lerner-on-the-lichtenberg-figures\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/16\/ben-lerner-on-the-lichtenberg-figures\/\",\"name\":\"Watch: Ben Lerner Remembers Writing His First Poetry Collection\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-16T16:21:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-02-16T17:22:48+00:00\",\"description\":\"For our My First Time series, Lerner discusses \u201cThe Lichtenberg Figures,\u201d his 2004 debut.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/16\/ben-lerner-on-the-lichtenberg-figures\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/16\/ben-lerner-on-the-lichtenberg-figures\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/16\/ben-lerner-on-the-lichtenberg-figures\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ben Lerner on The Lichtenberg Figures\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"description\":\"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Paris Review\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"The Paris Review\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a1aef49f81bfc540a37e03590f3bb4d9\",\"name\":\"Sadie Stein\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/147299ffa10db51f1ff44a626a9211650a1c11f8fc07d102ab48e63ab3be037b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/147299ffa10db51f1ff44a626a9211650a1c11f8fc07d102ab48e63ab3be037b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sadie Stein\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/sstein\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Watch: Ben Lerner Remembers Writing His First Poetry Collection","description":"For our My First Time series, Lerner discusses \u201cThe Lichtenberg Figures,\u201d his 2004 debut.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/16\/ben-lerner-on-the-lichtenberg-figures\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ben Lerner on The Lichtenberg Figures by Sadie Stein","og_description":"February 16, 2016 \u2013 \u201cMy First Time\u201d is a \u00a0video series in which we invite authors to discuss the trials of writing and publishing their first books. Consider it a chance to","og_url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/16\/ben-lerner-on-the-lichtenberg-figures\/","og_site_name":"The Paris Review","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","article_published_time":"2016-02-16T16:21:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-02-16T17:22:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Sadie Stein","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@parisreview","twitter_site":"@parisreview","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sadie Stein","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/16\/ben-lerner-on-the-lichtenberg-figures\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/16\/ben-lerner-on-the-lichtenberg-figures\/"},"author":{"name":"Sadie Stein","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a1aef49f81bfc540a37e03590f3bb4d9"},"headline":"Ben Lerner on The Lichtenberg Figures","datePublished":"2016-02-16T16:21:56+00:00","dateModified":"2016-02-16T17:22:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/16\/ben-lerner-on-the-lichtenberg-figures\/"},"wordCount":316,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Ben Lerner","craft","interviews","MFA","My First Time","poetry","publishing","The Lichtenberg Figures","videos","writing"],"articleSection":["My First Time"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/16\/ben-lerner-on-the-lichtenberg-figures\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/16\/ben-lerner-on-the-lichtenberg-figures\/","name":"Watch: Ben Lerner Remembers Writing His First Poetry Collection","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-02-16T16:21:56+00:00","dateModified":"2016-02-16T17:22:48+00:00","description":"For our My First Time series, Lerner discusses \u201cThe Lichtenberg Figures,\u201d his 2004 debut.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/16\/ben-lerner-on-the-lichtenberg-figures\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/16\/ben-lerner-on-the-lichtenberg-figures\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/16\/ben-lerner-on-the-lichtenberg-figures\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ben Lerner on The Lichtenberg Figures"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","name":"The Paris Review","description":"The best prose, interviews, poetry, and art. Since 1953.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#organization","name":"The Paris Review","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/tpr-hadada-roundell-logo-square.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"The Paris Review"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/","https:\/\/x.com\/parisreview","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/parisreview"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/a1aef49f81bfc540a37e03590f3bb4d9","name":"Sadie Stein","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/147299ffa10db51f1ff44a626a9211650a1c11f8fc07d102ab48e63ab3be037b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/147299ffa10db51f1ff44a626a9211650a1c11f8fc07d102ab48e63ab3be037b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sadie Stein"},"url":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/author\/sstein\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/178"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94438"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94475,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94438\/revisions\/94475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}