U.S. Poet Laureate Coming to Kent State

It was a very exciting day at Kent State University when word broke that U.S. Poet Laureate W.S. Merwin would be traveling all the way from his Hawaii home to Kent.

"There’s a lot of enthusiasm and build-up around it," said David Hassler, director of the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State.

Merwin, who was named America's poet-in-chief for 2010-2011, will take part in two events at the Kent campus on Oct. 10. The first will be a 2 p.m. dedication of an exhibit at the Kent State Library featuring prints from Merwin's career. The second will be a free, public poetry reading in the Kent Student Center Ballroom at 7:30 p.m.

"It really should be a wonderful event," Hassler said. "We’re actually expecting, believe it or not, 700 people to come and hear him."

The exhibit at the library, "Doorway to the Work of W.S. Merwin," will run from Oct. 1 to Dec. 15. The University Libraries and the Wick Poetry Center were among several sponsors to bring Merwin to the university that included the Office of the Provost, the English Department and the Honors College.

"Having a legend like Merwin at Kent State University is quite an honor,” said Jim Bracken, dean of Kent State’s University Libraries. “His breadth of accomplishments is astounding, and to be able to share that with our students and the community firsthand is a unique opportunity.”

Last year, the U.S. Library of Congress appointed Merwin its 17th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. He's published more than 20 poetry books and won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

Hassler said they were able to get Merwin to come to Kent State because one of last year's visiting poets, Naomi Shihad Nye, knows Merwin and recommended he visit Kent State. Merwin's reading at Kent is expected to last about 45 minutes with a question-and-answer session at the end.

"He’s 84 years old, but there’s never been a waning in his productivity," he said. "I’m sure he’ll be reading many new poems that have never been published before."

The day before the reading, on Oct. 9, Hassler will be leading a discussion on 10 of Merwin's works at the Kent Free Library from 2 p.m. to 3:30.

"We’re encouraging people to come and participate in a discussion at the library as well," Hassler said.