Cal U. to host poet laureates
North Carolina’s poet laureate and former California University of Pennsylvania student Joseph Bathanti will return to campus for an “Evening of Poet Laureates” at 7 p.m. March 28 in Eberly Hall, Room 120.
Bathanti, who was installed as North Carolina’s poet laureate in September, is the author of six books of poetry, two novels and a short-story collection.
A Pittsburgh native, he is professor of creative writing at Appalachian State University, where he also is director of writing in the field and a writer-in-residence in the university’s Watauga Global Community. He has taught writing workshops in prisons for 35 years.
Bathanti won the 2002 Sherwood Anderson Award and the 2006 Spokane Prize for short fiction, as well as various North Carolina writing awards. His fiction, nonfiction and poetry have appeared in such literary journals as Texas Review, California Quarterly, Cincinnati Poetry Review, Connecticut Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, Shenandoah, New Letters and Carolina Quarterly.
Joining him for the reading will be Ryan Sittler, poet laureate for Berks County from 2002-08.
The co-editor of two books on library instruction, Sittler is an assistant professor and instructional technology/information literacy librarian at Manderino Library at Cal U. He also designs educational videogames.
The “Evening of Poet Laureates” is part of a Visiting Writers Series sponsored by the university’s English Department and the College of Liberal Arts. A book signing and light refreshments will be offered after the reading.
Admission is free.
For a list of the authors’ works and other information, visit www.calu.edu.