A group of eight distinguished Minnesota poets will come together at Gustavus Adolphus College the evening of Tuesday, April 17 for a celebration of Minnesota poetry in honor of Gustavus Professor of English and Minnesota Poet Laureate Joyce Sutphen.
The event is free and open to the public and will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Alumni Hall, located on the upper level of the O.J. Johnson Student Union.
The list of Minnesota poets who will read from their works at the event includes:
- Candace Black, assistant professor of English at Minnesota State University, Mankato; author of a book of poems titled The Volunteer; has had more than 50 poems published in various magazines; recipient of the Loft-McKnight Award for Poetry and a Jerome Foundation Fellowship.
- Phil Bryant ’73, professor of English at Gustavus; author of three books of poetry including Sermon on a Perfect Spring Day, which was nominated for a Minnesota Book Award in 1999; his work has been published in numerous publications including The Iowa Review, The Indiana Review, The American Poetry Review, and Nimrod.
- Rebecca Fremo, associate professor of English at Gustavus; two poems published in the anthology County Lines; her work has appeared in publications such as Water~Stone Review, Poetica Magazine, and Tidal Basin Review.
- Matt Rasmussen ’98, visiting assistant professor of English at Gustavus; his poems have appeared in publications such as Gulf Coast, Dislocate, and Water-Stone Review; recipient of a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant; founding co-editor of Birds, LLC, an independent poetry press.
- John Rezmerski, professor emeritus of English at Gustavus; author of numerous poetry books and chapbooks including Breaking the Rules: Starting with Ghazals, Counting Sheep, 22 from TOTU, and What Do I Know?; named Poet Laureate of the Minnesota League of Poets; his poems have appeared in more than 100 publications including CrazyHorse and the Wall Street Journal.
- Richard Robbins, professor of English at Minnesota State University, Mankato; author or co-editor of seven books of poetry including Other Americas, Radioactive City, and Untested Hand; about 350 of his poems have appeared in publications such as CrazyHorse, The Nation, and The North American Review; winner of numerous awards including the Bellday Poetry Prize and the Louis Hammer Memorial Award.
- Richard Terrill, professor of English at Minnesota State University, Mankato; author of two books of poetry including Almost Dark and Coming Late To Rachmaninoff, which won a Minnesota Book Award in 2003; National Endowment for the Arts fellowship winner; his poems have been widely published in publications such as Nimrod, South Dakota Review, Connecticut Review, and many others.
Minnesota Poet Laureate Joyce Sutphen
Sutphen was named Poet Laureate for the state of Minnesota by Governor Mark Dayton on Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2011. The role dictates that Sutphen serves as the primary spokesperson, supporter, and promoter of poetry in the state. She is only the second individual to hold the title, as she replaced Robert Bly who was appointed by former Governor Tim Pawlenty in 2007.
Sutphen has published several collections of poetry including the anthology To Sing Along the Way: Minnesota Women Poets from Pre-Territorial Days to the Present (2006), which she co-edited. Her other collections include Straight Out of View (1995), Coming Back to the Body (2000), First Words (2009), Fourteen Sonnets (2005), and Naming the Stars (2004), which won the Minnesota Book Award for poetry in 2005. Her other awards include the Eunice Tietjen’s Memorial Prize from Poetry magazine, a Loft-McKnight Artist Fellowship, a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship, and a grant from the Jerome Foundation.
Sutphen grew up on a farm near St. Joseph, Minn., and currently lives in Chaska. She holds three degrees from the University of Minnesota including a master’s degree in English and a Ph.D. in renaissance drama. Sutphen teaches a variety of courses at the College, mainly in the areas of poetry, creative writing, and British literature.
For more information about this event, contact Rebecca Fremo at rtfremo@gustavus.edu.
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Media Contact: Director of Media Relations and Internal Communication Luc Hatlestad
luch@gustavus.edu
507-933-7510