The UW-Eau Claire chancellor, the Eau Claire County administrator and the former poet laureate of Wisconsin will be among more than a dozen readers at a celebration of American poetry – particularly the works of Robert Frost – on the UW-EC campus on Monday, Apr. 25.
The third annual event is scheduled for 4 p.m. on the third floor of Centennial Hall. A reception will follow the program, which is free and open to the public.
Among the poetry readers will be UW-EC Chancellor James Schmidt; Kathryn Schauf, Eau Claire County administrator; and Max Garland, former state Poet Laureate and emeritus professor of English at UW-EC.
The poems to be read will focus on the theme of “a sense of place,” according to Greg Kocken, UW-EC’s archivist and an organizer of the event.
“When we contemplated the theme for this year’s event, my mind turned to what I have encountered in the poetry of Robert Frost,” Kocken said. “I immediately thought of how Frost relates a sense of place in much of his poetry.
“The time Frost spent in New England greatly influenced his poetry,” Kocken added. “However, I believe the themes of his poetry transcend geographic boundaries. It is relatable and enjoyed everywhere. Given this, I really considered a broad application of this theme, which includes nature and our own space.”
Other readers of the poems by Frost and other poets will include David Leaman, dean of UW-EC’s College of Arts and Sciences; Linda John, executive director of Visit Eau Claire; and Joan Christopherson Schmidt, donor of the Frederick G. and Joan Christopherson Schmidt Robert Frost Collection, which was acquired in 2013 by the UW-Eau Claire Foundation and which is celebrated in these annual programs.
Also, George Strobel, chair of the UW-Eau Claire Foundation board of directors; Carrie Ronnander, director of the Chippewa Valley Museum; Debra Barker, professor of English and director of the university’s American Indian Studies program; David Jones, UW-EC professor of English, honors education and women’s studies; Caitlin Lee, equal opportunities specialist in the UW-EC Office of Multicultural Affairs; Dennis Beale, student services coordinator in that office; and Samantha Foss, a graduate student and December, 2015 English Literature graduate of UW-EC.
The celebration of Frost and other American poets is sponsored by the UW-EC English Department, the UW-Eau Claire Foundation and McIntyre Library. Organizers have announced plans to hold a poetry contest as part of the event in 2017, in honor of UW-Eau Claire’s upcoming Centennial Celebration. Details will be made available this summer.
More information is available from Kocken at kockeng@uwec.edu (or by phone at 715-836-3873) or from Erica Benson, English Department chair, at bensone@uwec.edu (or at 715-836-2431).