Beall Poetry Festival Celebrates Contemporary Poets with Readings, Panel Discussion
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WACO, Texas (March 19, 2018) – Baylor University will host the 24th annual Beall Poetry Festival on March 21-23, featuring a student literary contest, poetry readings and a panel discussion.
“Baylor's Beall Poetry Festival, now in its 24th year, features four poets this year,” said Richard Russell, Ph.D., English professor in the College of Arts & Sciences and director of the Beall Poetry Festival. “These poets are united by their love of language and both the formal and musical qualities of poetry; they are adept at writing for the public.”
All afternoon events will take place at 3:30 p.m. in Room 101 of Carroll Science Building, 1401 S. Fifth St., and the evening events will take place at 7 p.m. in Kayser Auditorium in the Hankamer Academic Center, 1428 S. Fifth St.
The three-day event serves to celebrate some of the finest contemporary poets with readings, a panel discussion and the Virginia Beall Ball Lecture on Contemporary Poetry.
Guest poets include Kwame Dawes, author of 20 books of poetry and numerous other books of fiction, criticism and essays; Dana Gioia, internationally acclaimed and award-winning poet and former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts; Mark Jarman, American poet and critic specializing in the New Formalism movement; and Lisa Russ Spaar, contemporary American poet, essayist and professor of English and creative writing at the University of Virginia.
“Mr. Dawes, for instance, has written the best book on reggae artist Bob Marley, while Mrs. Spaar writes for the Los Angeles Review of Books,” Russell said. “Mr. Jarman and Mr. Gioia (former head of the National Education Association under Bill Clinton) helped found what has been called ‘New Formalism,’ which moves from free verse to emphasize meter and rhyme.”
Schedule of Events
WEDNESDAY, March 21
Afternoon: Student Literary Contest – The winners of the Student Literary Contest will be announced. Five poetry prizes and three fiction prizes will be awarded.
Evening: Kwame Dawes (University of Nebraska) poetry reading
THURSDAY, March 22
Afternoon: Lisa Russ Spaar (University of Virginia), The Virginia Beall Ball Lecture in Contemporary Poetry, "Unshaming the Lyric Poem"
Evening: Mark Jarman (Vanderbilt) poetry reading
FRIDAY, March 23
Afternoon: Poetry Panel, moderated by Chloe Honum, Ph.D., assistant professor of English and poetry in the College of Arts & Sciences at Baylor University
Evening: Dana Gioia (University of Southern California) poetry reading
The Beall Poetry Festival is supported by John A. and DeLouise McClelland Beall Endowed Fund, established in 1994 by Virginia B. Ball to honor her parents and to encourage the writing and appreciation of poetry.
The event is free and open to the public.
For more information, visit the Beall Poetry website.
by Brooke Battersby, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805
ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.
ABOUT BAYLOR COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES
The College of Arts & Sciences is Baylor University’s oldest and largest academic division, consisting of 25 academic departments and seven academic centers and institutes. The more than 5,000 courses taught in the College span topics from art and theatre to religion, philosophy, sociology and the natural sciences. Faculty conduct research around the world, and research on the undergraduate and graduate level is prevalent throughout all disciplines. Visit www.baylor.edu/artsandsciences.