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Lafayette’s celebration of National Poetry Month will soon wrap up with the Jean Corrie Poetry Reading April 27, a poetry festival April 30, and creative writing class presentations May 3.
According to Lee Upton, professor of English and writer-in-residence, there were so many activities this year that the department couldn’t hold them all in April.
“We always say that poetry can’t be contained in one month, so we are bursting out of the boundaries into May,” she says.
The Jean Corrie Poetry Reading and ice cream social will be held Thursday at 4:10 p.m. in Faculty Dining Room, Marquis Hall. David Chin, professor of English at Penn State-Wilkes Barre, will be the featured poet. The winners of the Jean Corrie Poetry competition, English major Sarah Thompson ’07 (New Canaan, Conn.); Marquis Scholar Lauren Yuhas ’09 (Montvale, N.J.); and Cassie Title ’09 (Springfield, N.J.), will also read their winning entries.
April 30 will be a full day of poetry events. The Marquis is sponsoring a poetry festival from 12-4 p.m. on the quad. There will be music, food, artwork on display, and open mics. Members of the Marquis will also be distributing this year’s literary magazine.
An open mic poetry reading will follow from 7-9 p.m. at Cosmic Cup Coffee on Cattell Street. Anyone interested in either event should contact English majors Jennifer Aranda ’07 (Paramus, N.J) or Emily Weisenreder ’08 (Pasadena, Md.).
The final event of National Poetry Month will be the creative writing class readings May 3 at 9 p.m. in the Farinon Snack Bar. A total of 28 students from the advanced creative writing class and a class taught by Alix Ohlin, assistant professor of English, will read poetry or excerpts from fiction or screen plays.
“We have had a really remarkable spring semester,” says Upton. “There were many opportunities to hear important contemporary voices and students were also able to bring their own voices into the mix. The best thing we do is combine their young voices with that of highly accomplished writers.”