Baylor University’s Beall Poetry Festival Celebrates 25 Years This Week with Readings by Noted Poets

Media Contact: Terry Goodrich, Baylor University Media and Public Relations, 254-710-3321
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by Gabrielle White, student newswriter, Baylor University Media and Public Relations

WACO, Texas (April 1, 2019) – The 25th anniversary of Baylor University’s Beall Poetry Festival will host winners of the National Book Award for Poetry and PEN USA Award for Poetry, along with the first Latino U.S. poet laureate for a three-day event highlighting contemporary poetry.

“We look for exciting and excellent poets who have won important awards and have a distinguished record of publication,” said Sarah Ford, Ph.D., director of the Beall Poetry Festival and professor of English in Baylor’s College of Arts & Sciences. “The roster of poets is different every year but always includes writers from diverse backgrounds.”

This year the Beall Poetry Festival will host Mary Szybist, whose second book, “Incarnadine” (2013), won the National Book Award for Poetry; Donald Revell, the author of 15 collections of poetry and the two-time winner of the PEN USA Award for Poetry; and Juan Felipe Herrera, who served as U.S. poet laureate from 2015 to 2017, the first Latino to hold that position.

Events begin Wednesday, April 3, and continue through Friday, April 5, hosting a student literary contest, poetry readings, the Virginia Beall Ball Lecture in Contemporary Poetry and a panel discussion.

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.
“By hearing contemporary poets read their own work, students are exposed to an art form that they may have previously only experienced in books,” Ford said. “Hearing poetry helps audience members appreciate how sound informs the meaning of the words, how emotions can be communicated through language and how poets can use different forms for different effects. When reading their poems, the poets usually talk about why they write poetry and how specific poems were created, which gives students insight into the creative process. Even students who are hesitant at first about whether they would enjoy a poetry reading come away with an appreciation for poetry and an enthusiasm for the poets they heard.”

The Beall Poetry Festival is a premier American literary event that brings award-winning poets to campus to read their work. Poetry has a long and illustrious history at Baylor. Under the direction of A. J. Armstrong, poets such as Robert Frost and William Butler Yeats visited the campus. This tradition grew into the festival, which is supported by the 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. Ball was a 1940 graduate of Baylor.

Schedule of Events

WEDNESDAY, April 3

Afternoon: Student Literary Contest – Student submissions will be judged by Michael Shewmaker, author of Penumbra, winner of the 2016 Hollis Summers Poetry Prize. Five awards will be given for poetry and three for fiction.
Evening: Poetry reading by Mary Szybist

THURSDAY, April 4

Afternoon: The Virginia Beall Ball Lecture in Contemporary Poetry will be presented by Meg Tyler, scholar of Irish poetry, titled “Coming Through Grief”: Image, Feeling and Finding Form in Heaney’s Late Work.
Evening: Poetry reading by Donald Revell

FRIDAY, April 5

Afternoon: Panel Discussion – The panel discussion will host all four festival guests and will be moderated by Ginger Hanchey, Ph.D., poet and lecturer in the department of English in Baylor’s College of Arts & Sciences. The format is Q&A, and the discussion will involve topics such as the experience of being a poet and the state of contemporary poetry. Audience members will also have the opportunity to ask questions.
Evening: Poetry reading by Juan Felipe Herrera and 25th anniversary celebration for the festival

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit the Beall website.

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 THE COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES AT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
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.