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Visiting Writers

Coming Attractions 2006-07

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Ladette Randolph

Robert Bly

Recent Visitors

Lucille Clifton

 

    Award-winning poet and author Lucille Clifton visited Alma College on March 14th, 2000 to give a reading of her poetry from her collections The Terrible Stories and Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems 1969-1999.  Ms. Clifton's honors include an Emmy Award from the American Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, a Lannan Literary Award, the Shelley Memorial Award, and the YM-YWHA Poetry Center Discovery Award.  In 1999 she was elected a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and has served as Poet Laureate for the State of Maryland.  She is currently Distinguished Professor of Humanities at St. Mary's College of Maryland. 

 

 

Naomi Shihab Nye

  

    Naomi Shihab Nye visited Alma College on February 3rd, 2003 to read and discuss her works with students, faculty, and guests.  Ms. Nye is known for her essays and anthologies of the Middle East as well as her children's books and poetry.  Her prize-winning works include Different Ways to Pray, Hugging the Jukebox, and This Same Sky.  Ms. Nye has received a Lavan Award from the Academy of American Poets, four Pushcart Prizes, and numerous awards for her children's literature including two Jane Addams Children's Book Awards and the Isabella Garnder Poetry Award in 2005 for You and Yours.  She is a regular columnist for Organica and poetry editor for The Texas Observer

 
 

W. S. Merwin

 

    Pulitzer Prize winning poet, translator and environmental activist W. S. Merwin visited Alma College on October 30th, 2003 to deliver a reading of his works.  During his five decade career Mr. Merwin has become one of America's most celebrated and widely read poets.  His works include The Drunk in the Furnace, The Moving Target, The LIce, Flower & Hand, The Compass Flower, Opening the Hand, Travels, The Vixen, Unframed Originals, and The Folding Cliffs, as well Pulitzer Prize winner The Carrier of Ladders.  His recent works include The Mays of Vantedor, The River Sound, and The Pupil, as well as a new translation of Dante's Purgatorio.  In 2004 Mr. Merwin received the prestigious Lannan Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2005 he was honored as laureate of the Struga Poetry Evenings Festival in Macedonia, receiving the Golden Wreath Award. 

 

Sven Birkerts 

 

    The highly regarded critic and writer Sven Birkerts presented a reading/talk at the library on Thursday, October 13, at 8:00 pm. The theme of his presentation was "Looking TheTechnology Gift Horse InThe Mouth." His most recent book is MY SKY BLUE TRADES.


Jane Hirschfield, Poet

 

Jane Hirshfield, poet, teacher and translator (most notably of Nobel Laureate Czeslaw Milosz), visited the Alma Campus on October 14, 2004, for a workshop and reading. She has written five collections of poetry, most recently Given Sugar, Given Salt, as well as books on poetry, such as her acclaimed Entering The Nine Gates. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly and The Best American Poetry Series. She has also been featured on NPR with Garrison Keiller, as well as on PBS with Bill Moyers.

 

Alma College students report a level of interaction with faculty that ranks among the top 5 percent in the nation, according to the results of the 2006 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE).

 

Faculty Profile

Dr. Chih-Ping Chen

Dr. Chih-Ping Chen
Departments: English

Dr. Chih-Ping Chen's fascination for literature and the English language was inspired from reading Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre when she was just 14 years old. Originally from Taiwan, Chen says, “Although English literature can be quite a challenge, it opens doors to many places.”