Dickinson Poetry Festival features readings by contemporary poets

Three poets, Amy Fleury, Jeanne E. Clark, and Alice Fulton, will read from their works as part of the Emily Dickinson Poetry Festival, March 27-29, at Pittsburg State University. Sponsored by the Distinguished Visiting Writers Series, Women’s Studies, and the Student Fee Council, the series will feature lectures each day, and every night, one of the poets will read from her own work. On March 29, a panel discussion on Emily Dickinson will be presented from 2-3:30 p.m. in the Balkans Room.

Fleury will read from her work at 8 p.m. on March 27 in the Governor’s Room. A reception will follow in the Heritage Room. Fleury, a native of rural northeast Kansas, is an associate professor of English at Washburn University in Topeka. Her collection of poems, “Beautiful Trouble,” won the 2003 Crab Orchard First Book Award and was named a top-10 notable book of 2004 by the Kansas City Star. Her poetry and fiction have appeared in “Prairie Schooner,” “North American Review,” “Midwest Quarterly,” “21st,” and “Southeast Review,” among other journals. She has been a recipient of fellowships from the MacDowell Colony and the Kansas Arts Commission.

Clark will read from her work at 8 p.m. on March 28. A reception will follow in the Heritage Room. Clark is the author of “Ohio Blue Tips,” which won the 1997 Akron Poetry Prize. Clark was born and raised in Northwest Ohio. She teaches Creative Writing at California State University, Chico. She was the winner of the 1995 Loft Prize in Poetry.

Fulton will read her poetry at 8 p.m. on March 29 in the Governor’s Room. Fulton's most recent book of poems is “Cascade Experiment.” Her book, “Felt,” was awarded the 2002 Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry from the Library of Congress. “Felt” also was selected by the Los Angeles Times as one of the Best Books of 2001 and as a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award. Her honors include fellowships from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Ingram Merrill Foundation, The Guggenheim Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, and The Michigan Society of Fellows. Her work has been included in six editions of The Best American Poetry series and the Pushcart Prize series. She is currently the Ann S. Bowers Professor of English at Cornell University.

In addition to reading from their works, the visiting poets will also deliver a series of lectures to English classes during the week. Those lectures are also open to the public. Amy Fleury will speak in Paul McCallum’s “General Literature: Poetry” class at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, March 28, in 302 Grubbs Hall. Jeanne E. Clark will speak in Laura Lee Washburn’s “Poetry Writing” class at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, March 28, in 303 Grubbs Hall. Alice Fulton will speak in Lizanne Minerva’s “Introduction to Creative Writing” class at 11 a.m. on Thursday, March 29 in 312 Grubbs Hall.

---Pitt State---