DR. DON WELCH, EMERITUS REYNOLDS CHAIR IN POETRY, WINNER OF 2004 SOWER AWARD IN THE HUMANITIES

Glennis Nagel
Director, Media Communications, 308.865.8454

Dr. Don Welch, UNK emeritus Reynolds Chair in Poetry, was presented the 2004 Sower Award in the humanities from the Nebraska Humanities Council Thursday night in Lincoln.

The recognition was part of the ninth annual Governor’s Lecture in the Humanities. Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and historian David Halberstam delivered the lecture.

Dr. Welch, who is retired from the UNK Department of English after a 38-year career, continues to write, publish and lead workshops on writing poetry. A lifelong Nebraskan, Welch’s poetry reflects a deep sense of place in the landscape of the Great Plains. More than 300 of his poems have appeared in magazines and journals throughout the United States and examples of his work have been included in numerous anthologies. He is a winner of the Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry, one of seven national poetry awards he has received, along with a number of state and regional awards.

As an educator, he received both the Pratt-Heins and Nebraska State College Board of Trustees Awards for Teaching Excellence. He has been a Nebraska Arts Council poet-in-residence in Nebraska public schools, and was a participant in, and consultant to, the Nebraska Public Television documentary Last of the One-Room Schools. His composition handbook, A Shape a Writer Can Contain, was published by the Nebraska Department of Education in 1979 and is still widely used in high school curricula throughout the state.

Dr. Welch is a graduate of Kearney State College/University of Nebraska at Kearney and the University of Nebraska – Lincoln.