Dr. Charles Fort
professor of English, 308.865.8164
The University of Nebraska at Kearney’s Reynolds Writers and Readers Series begins Thursday, September 19 with a full schedule of distinguished poets.
Nigerian poet Remi Raji and Gary Gildner are the first poets to perform on September 19 at 8 p.m. at the Museum of Nebraska Art. Raji’s publications include Webs of Remembrance, 2001 and A Harvest of Laughters, 1997. The Ibadan, Nigeria native received his Ph.D in English at the University of Ibadan. Gildner’s previous works include Clackamas, The Warsaw Sparks, and The Second Bridge. One of his works, The Bunker in the Parsley Fields: Poems, 1997, was awarded the Iowa Poetry Prize.
On Friday, October 18, Poets Charles Fort and Don Welch will perform at MONA at 8 p.m. Fort is the Distinguished Reynolds Chair in Poetry at UNK. He has received national prizes from the Poetry Society of America, Writers Voice and the Randall Jarrell/O Henry Festival Poetry Prize. His works include Ploughing the Brown Field and You Shall Marry a Man With Wings, appearing in The Recorder. Welch is a well-known native Nebraskan and Reynolds Professor of Poetry Emeritus whose poetry reflects a deep sense of place in the landscape of the great plains. Over 300 of his poems have appeared in major journals throughout the U.S.
The series will continue on Wednesday, October 23 with Irish Poet Ciaran Carson at the Kearney Community Theater at 8 p.m. Carson’s volumes of poetry include The New Estate, 1976, and The Irish For No, 1987, which won the Alice Hunt Barlett Award. He has also written The Pocket Guide to Irish Traditional Music and Last Night’s Fun.
The final performances in the series will commence on November 14 in Copeland Hall, room 140. Times of Sorrow, Times of Grace will be performed by Susanne Bloomfield, Barbara Emrys, Samantha Lines and Terri Lee Schifferns at 8 p.m.
The series is free and open to the public. In addition, book signings and receptions will follow each performance.
