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Celebrate Nation Poetry Month with events at IU

T.S. Eliot called April "the cruelest month." Possibly to offset the bad rap the month has had since "The Waste Land" was penned, the Academy of American Poets declared April National Poetry Month in 1996. Now the largest literary celebration in the world, National Poetry Month continues to increase the visibility, presence and accessibility of poetry in American culture. Multiple events will be occurring on the IU Bloomington campus this month in conjunction with the month-long festival.

National Poetry Month

April 18
Sherman Alexie
8:00 p.m. at the John Waldron Arts Center

Prolific novelist, poet and screenplay writer Sherman Alexie has been hailed as one of the best young writers of his generation and was named one of the "Top Two Writers for the 21st Century" by The New Yorker. A Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian, Alexie's storytelling and lectures center on contemporary American Indian life laced with razor-sharp humor, unsettling candor and biting wit. He reshapes our myths and stereotypes by speaking his mind on a wide range of issues -- from race relations, religion and politics to homophobia and war morality.

Hosted by Catherine Bowman, director of the Creative Writing Program, the event is sponsored by the Indiana University MFA Creative Writing Program, the IU Department of English, the IU College Arts & Humanities Institute and the IU Office of the Vice President for Research and Diversity.

Catherine Bowman

Catherine Bowman

3rd Year MFA Readings

  • April 19, 7:00 p.m. in the University Club at the Indiana Memorial Union -- Roberta Kwok, Matt Colglazier, Shawna Ayoub-Ainslie and Asha French
  • April 20, 7:00 p.m. in the University Club at the Indiana Memorial Union -- Paula Carter, Britton Shurley, Chris Harvey and Amelia Martens
  • April 21, 7:00 p.m., in the University Club at the Indiana Memorial Union -- Tracy Truels, Megan Savage, Carissa DiGiovanni and Monique Harris

More Creative Writing News:

MFA faculty Alyce Miller's collection of stories, Water, was selected by novelist Norman Rush for this year's Mary McCarthy Prize,and will be published at the end of 2007 with Sarabande Press.

For a list of 30 ways to celebrate National Poetry Month, go to the National Academy of Poets Web site at: https://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/94