Emory & Henry Hosts Poetry Events During National Poetry Month
Throughout the month of April, Emory & Henry College is celebrating National Poetry Month by hosting the Catherine Burns Larmore Visiting Poet Series and the Daniel Leidig Lecture in Poetry including two readings on the Emory campus, an open mic night at The Girl and The Raven and a reading at The Martha Washington Inn & Spa, both in Abingdon, Va.
The Catherine Burns Larmore Visiting Poet Series at Emory & Henry College was created in 2017 with an endowment from Catherine Burns Larmore’s daughter, Catherine C. Larmore. Larmore founded the series with the intent of enriching the lives of students at Emory & Henry by attracting poets for readings, symposia and student workshops.
This year’s Larmore Visiting Poet is Diné ecopoet Sherwin Bitsui. Bitsui has authored three poetry collections, Dissolve, Flood Song and Shapeshifter. He is the recipient of a Whiting Award, an American Book Award, and the PEN Book Award. Bitsui will give a public reading of his poetry on the Emory & Henry campus on Wednesday, April 5, at 7 p.m. at the McGlothlin Center for the Arts.
Bitsui will continue the Larmore Visiting Poet Series with an interview at The Martha Washington Inn & Spa on Thursday, April 6, at 7 p.m. hosted by the Emory & Henry English Department. The interview includes a question and answer session following the interview.
The Girl and The Raven in Abingdon, Va. will host an open mic event on Saturday, April 15, at 3 p.m. Emory & Henry students, staff, faculty and community members from the region are invited and encouraged to participate in the event.
The Leidig Lectureship was established by Emory & Henry College in Dr. Daniel G. Leidig, Jr.’s name 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 Leidig Lecture in Poetry this year will be delivered by Carl Phillips. Phillips is the author of 16 books of poetry, most recently Then the War: And Selected Poems 2007-2020 (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2022). His honors include the 2021 Jackson Prize, the Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry, the Kingsley Tufts Award, a Lambda Literary Award, the PEN/USA Award for Poetry, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Library of Congress, the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Academy of American Poets.
The final events of National Poetry Month are a poetry reading with Phillips at The Martha Washington Inn & Spa in Abingdon, Va. on Tuesday, April 18, at 7 p.m. and the Lecture in Poetry with Phillips at the McGlothlin Center of the Arts on Wednesday, April 19, at 7 p.m. through the Daniel Leidig Lectureship in Poetry.
For more information about the Catherine Burns Larmore Visiting Poet Series, visit www.ehc.edu/larmore or contact assistant professor of English Matthew B. Kelley at (276) 944-6225 or mbkelley@ehc.edu. For more information about the Daniel Leidig Lecture in Poetry, visit www.ehc.edu/leidig.
All events held at Emory & Henry are free and open to the public. The Catherine Burns Larmore Visiting Poet Series event at The Martha Washington Inn & Spa with Sherwin Bitsui is free and open to the public. The Leidig Lecture in Poetry event at The Martha Washington Inn & Spa is free for Emory & Henry students and faculty. Other attendees require an entry fee of $15.
Open gallery
Sherwin Bitsui (left) and Carl Phillips (right) are joining Emory & Henry College for the Catherine Burns Larmore Visiting Poet Series and the Daniel Leidig Lecture in Poetry this April, National Poetry Month.
