Alison Hedge Coke
Reynolds Endowed Chair, 308.865.8672
UNK – The UNK Reynolds Series and the Kearney Chapter of Nebraskans for Peace will present Sam Hamill, an acclaimed poet, editor and co-founder of Copper Canyon Press, a non-profit publisher of poetry, at the University of Nebraska at Kearney on Tuesday, Oct. 6.
Hamill will begin reading his works at 7 p.m. in the Ponderosa Room of the Nebraskan Student Union. An autograph session and reception will take place after the reading. Reynolds Series presentations are free and open to the public.
Author of 40 books, including “Almost Paradise,” “Dumb Luck,” “Gratitude,” and translations of ancient Chinese and Japanese classics, Hamill has taught in prisons, in artist-in-residency programs, and has worked extensively with battered women and children.
In 2003, after declining an invitation to the White House, Hamill founded “Poets Against War,” the largest single theme anthology in history. His work has been translated into more than a dozen languages.
He is editor of “The Gift of Tongues: Twenty-five Years of Poetry from Copper Canyon Press,” “The Erotic Spirit,” “Selected Poems of Thomas McGrath” and “Selected Poems of Hayden Carruth.” Hamill has also published three collections of essays including “A Poet’s Work,” and two dozen volumes translated from ancient Greek, Latin, Estonian, Japanese and Chinese.
Among his honors are the Stanley Lindberg Lifetime Achievement for Editing, the Washington Poets Association Lifetime Achievement Award for poetry, two Washington Governor’s Arts awards, a Western States Book Award, a PEN-Oakland Anti-censorship award and the Charity Randall award. In addition, he has received recognition from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation and the Woodrow Wilson Foundation.
Upcoming presentations in the Reynolds Series are Stephanie Elizondo Griest on Oct. 16, and the Reynolds Scholars Reading 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.
