Famed author comes to Marion

Written by student intern: Pamela Miller-Sheets

 
Celebrated poet visits campus for free public reading
Kathy Fagan, a noted poet and author will visit Ohio State Marion’s Alber Student Center lobby on Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at 12 noon for a poetry reading. The event is free and open to the public.

Fagan is the author of four collections of poetry: Lip (Eastern Washington Press, 2009), The Charmed (Zoo Press, 2002), The Raft, a National Poetry Series Award Winner (Dutton, 1985), Moving & St Rage, winner of the 1998 Vassar Miller Prize for Poetry (Univ. of North Texas Press). She is the recipient of Fellowships in Poetry from the National Endowment for the arts, the Ingram Merrill Foundation, and the Ohio Arts Council. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from Columbia University and a Ph.D. from the University of Utah. She was formerly the Director of Creative Writing at The Ohio State University where she is currently Professor of English and Editor of The Journal.

Ohio State Marion English Professor Stuart Lishan, believes the text is more vibrant and rich when spoken aloud, and in this case, it will by the author herself.

“A reading in the flesh can make the poetry come alive,” said Lishan.

“We try to have an author come to speak once or twice a year as part of the synergy with Marion campus English majors, The Cornfield Review, and ‘Kapow!’ the OSU Writing Club,” he added.

Lishan’s students will have the opportunity to engage Fagan, who is the author of a specific work they were assigned in class. She will visit his English 266 (Writing of Poetry I) class, located in the Library Classroom Building, Room 217, from 1-3 p.m., for discussion and to answer questions for all interested students, faculty, staff, and community members.

In addition to college students taking advantage of Fagan’s visit, Lishan shared that Marion Harding High School English teacher Mary Hardgrove plans to involve her English class in the experience.