The Daniel Leidig Lectureship in Poetry
Celebrating Poetry at Emory & Henry College
The Leidig Poetry Lectureship community reading scheduled for this April was canceled out of respect for the health of our community members and the visiting poet. The winner of the Leidig Poetry Prize, selected by Tyehimba Jess, is Toni Jo Zeigler, for her poem “Balance.”
We encourage you to explore the work of poet Tyehimba Jess in the comfort of your home or dorm room. Jess is the author of two books of poetry, leadbelly (Verse Press) and Olio (Wave Books). Olio won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, The Midland Society Author’s Award in Poetry, and received an Outstanding Contribution to Publishing Citation from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. It was also nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the PEN Jean Stein Book Award, and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. Leadbelly was a winner of the 2004 National Poetry Series. The Library Journal and Black Issues Book Review both named it one of the “Best Poetry Books of 2005.”
Visiting Poets
1997 Charles Wright
1999 Kelly Cherry
2000 Fred Chappel
2001 Marilyn Nelson
2002 Ellen Bryant Voigt
2003 Andrew Hudgins
2004 Susan Ludvigson
2005 Mark Doty
2006 Linda Pastan
2008 Ted Kooser
2009 Margaret Gibson
2010 Naomi Shihab Nye
2011 Robert Morgan
2012 Martin Espada
2013 Terri Kirby Erickson
2014 Kwame Dawes
2015 Joseph Bathanti
2016 Anya Silver
2017 Nikky Finney
2018 Marilyn Kallet
Leidig Poetry Prize
2020 Toni Jo Zeigler
2018 Christian Tripp
2017 Rachel Tucker
2016 Nina Kerr
2015 Jessie Leniski
2014 Mary Ruth Pruitt
2013 Jessica Hughes
2012 Lauren Trotman
2011 Kylie Dalton
2010 David Gillette
2009 Caroline Lawless
2008 Sally Smith
2006 Maggie Hess
2005 Kathryn M. Bondurant
2004 Patrick Carmody
2003 Kathryn M. Bondurant
2003 Mark Merz
2001 Mark Merz
2000 Jennifer Stewart
History of the Leidig Lectureship
Daniel G. Leidig was born in Rutherford County, Tennessee, the son of the Rev. D. G. and Arta Evans Leidig. He received a B.A. degree in English from Emory & Henry College, an M.A. from Vanderbilt University, and a PhD from Florida State University. Dr. Leidig taught for 30 years at his Alma Mater, where he served variously as Stuart Professor of English, Dean of the College and acting President.
A lectureship in poetry was established by Emory & Henry College in his name in 1996 by Helen Power, former librarian at Emory & Henry College (1943-1971), and Harriette Mooring Horner, an honor graduate of the Class of 1990 at Emory & Henry College. In appreciation of Dr. Daniel G. Leidig, Jr., and in recognition of his love of poetry, the Leidig Lectureship in Poetry sponsors events during National Poetry Month to introduce students to the world of poetry.
The purpose of the Lectureship named in Dr. Leidig’s honor is to encourage the study, writing, reading and sharing of poetry as vital human undertakings. In addition, the Leidig Poetry Prize is awarded each spring to an Emory & Henry student after an open competition.