Alison Hedge Coke
Reynolds Endowed Chair, 308.865.8672
UNK – The University of Nebraska at Kearney Reynolds Series will present Jan Beatty, a recognized poet, performer and director of the creative writing program at Carlow University in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Friday, Sept. 18.
Beatty, whose work deals with urban work-class life, will read from her works beginning at 7 p.m. in the UNK Experimental Theatre. An autograph session and reception will take place after the reading. Reynolds Series presentations are free and open to the public.
Author of “Red Sugar,” “Mad River” and “Boneshaker,” all published by the University of Pittsburgh Press, Beatty’s poetry has appeared in magazines such as “Quarterly West,” “Gulf Coast,” “Indiana Review” and “Court Green.” Her poetry has also been included in anthologies published by Oxford University Press, University of Illinois Press and University of Iowa Press.
She has received numerous awards for her poetry including the Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize and the State Street Prize for her limited edition chapbook, “Ravenous.” Other awards include the $15,000 Creative Achievement Award in Literature from the Heinz Foundation, the Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry and two fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
Beatty has taught creative writing at the University of Pittsburgh where she received her MFA. She currently lives in Pittsburgh where she runs the Madwomen in the Attic writing workshops and teaches in the MFA program at Carlow University. For 13 years, she has also been the host and producer of “Prosody,” a public radio show that features the work of national writers.
“Nobody among her contemporaries writes better poems about urban working-class life,” said Ed Ochester, past director of the writing program at the University of Pittsburgh.
Upcoming presentations in the Reynolds Series are Sam Hamill on Oct. 6, Reynolds Scholars Reading on Oct. 9, Stephanie Elizondo Griest on Oct. 16 and Matthew Shenoda on Oct. 22.
For more information, contact Allison Hedge Coke, endowed Paul and Clarice Reynolds Chair of Poetry and Writing, at 308.865.8672.
