Poet Robert Hass to speak at Purdue Literary Awards

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Poet Robert Hass, a former poet laureate of the United States, will read and speak at Purdue University on April 21 for the 2016 Literary Awards.

His reading, which is free and open to the public, is 8 p.m. in Stewart Center’s Fowler Hall. Hass, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, is the winner of a McArthur “Genius” Fellowship, a Pulitzer Prize, a National Book Award and two National Book Critics’ Circle Awards. A question-and-answer session will follow his reading.

“We expect Robert Hass’s visit to be memorable. His poetry is accessible as well as very engaging, evocative and finely crafted. He is an outstandingly effective speaker who will be a pleasure to hear,” said Wendy Stallard Flory, professor of English and committee chair for the event.

As U.S. poet laureate for 1995-1997, he spent half of each week teaching at the University of California Berkeley and half in Washington, D.C. where he wrote a weekly column, “Poet’s Choice,” for The Washington Post. He undertook many initiatives to promote literacy, environmental awareness and arts education for young people, and was named Educator of the Year by the North American Association on Environmental Education.

Hass also will speak at the annual Literary Awards Banquet at 5:30 p.m. in Purdue Memorial Union’s North Ballroom. The banquet honors Indiana high school students and Purdue graduate and undergraduate students with more than 80 awards and $11,000 in prize money. Banquet tickets are $17 for students and $25 for adults and can be purchased through April 18 in Heavilon Hall, Room 324, or by directing inquires to the Purdue English department at 765-494-3740. Tickets include a pre-dinner reception, dinner, awards ceremony and reserved seating for Hass’s reading in Fowler Hall. The pre-dinner reception is 4:30-5:15 p.m. in Purdue Memorial Union's Anniversary Drawing Room.

These events are sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts, the Department of English and Purdue University Libraries. More information about the Literary Awards events can be found at https://www.cla.purdue.edu/english/literaryawards/index.html 

Writer: John Hughey, 765-494-2432, hugheyj@purdue.edu

Source: Wendy Flory, professor of English, floryw@purdue.edu