Serpentine Galleries presents an evening with Eileen Myles on the occasion of the publication of Myles’ latest book, Afterglow (A Dog Memoir). Throughout the evening, Myles, who will be reading from Afterglow, will also be joined by artist and filmmaker Ruth Novaczek and writer and editor Filipa Ramos, to discuss animals, companionship and loss.

Afterglow (A Dog Memoir), Myles’ first foray into memoir, paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of a beloved confidant: the pit bull called Rosie. In 1990, Myles chose Rosie from a litter on the street, and their connection instantly became central to the writer’s life and work. The evening begins with the diffusion version of sound artist Mira Calix’s 2003 piece Nunu, originally composed for orchestra and insects.

During the course of their sixteen years together, Eileen Myles was madly devoted to the dog’s wellbeing, especially in her final days. Starting from the emptiness following Rosie’s death, Afterglow launches a heartfelt and fabulist investigation into the true nature of the bond between pet and pet-owner. Through this lens, we witness Myles’ experiences with intimacy and spirituality, celebrity and politics, alcoholism and recovery, fathers and family history, gender, romance, memory, as well as the fantastical myths we invent to get to the heart of grief.

Eileen Myles is the author of more than twenty books, including Chelsea Girls, Cool For You, and most recently, I Must Be Living Twice: New & Selected Poems 1975-2014.

Ruth Novaczek has made some 35 films and installations since graduating from St Martins School of Art, London in 1986. Her work has been shown at galleries and venues including New York Kunsthalle, Tate Britain, Toyota Museum, Japan and in film festivals including Viper Switzerland, Mix NYC and the London Film Festival.

Lisbon-born Filipa Ramos is a writer and editor based in London, where she works as Editor in Chief of art-agenda. She is a Lecturer in the Experimental Film MA programme of Kingston University and in the MRes Art:Moving Image of Central Saint Martins, both in London, and works with the Master Programme of the Institut Kunst, Basel.

Mira Calix is an award-winning artist and composer based in the United Kingdom. Music and sound, which she considers a sculptural material, are at the centre of her practice. At Kings Place, Calix performs the diffusion version of Nunu, composed for surround sound and presented on a quadrophonic system.