Sims Library will host poet Jack Bedell on Tuesday, April 17, at “Readings with Louisiana’s
Poet Laureate.” Dr. Bedell will discuss his writing process and present some of his
poetry. The event will begin at 5 p.m. on the 3rd floor of the Library.
“April is National Poetry Month,” said Eric Johnson, Sims Library Director. “So this
is the perfect time to celebrate one of Southeastern’s longtime professors being named
Louisiana’s Poet Laureate.”
Dr. Bedell is a native of the Houma-Thibodaux area, who began teaching creative writing
at Southeastern in 1992. He is editor of Louisiana Literature, a literary journal published by Southeastern, and serves as director of Louisiana
Literature Press. He has written nine books of poetry, including Call and Response (2010), Come Rain, Come Shine (2006), What Passes for Love (2001), Bone-Hollow, True: New & Selected Poems (2013), Elliptic (2016), and Revenant (2016). He also has had numerous poems published in anthologies and journals.
In addition to teaching, Bedell has also worked with the Louisiana Endowment for the
Humanities award-winning PRIME TIME Family Literacy Program as a storyteller and continues
to promote the work of his fellow Louisiana writers. He is the recipient of numerous
awards and honors, including the Governor’s Award for Artistic Achievement (2007),
the Special Humanities Award from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (2005),
and the Southeastern President’s Award for Excellence in Artistic Activity (1997),
one of the highest awards presented by the University to faculty and staff.
National Poetry Month is a worldwide literary celebration in which tens of millions
of readers, students, teachers, librarians, and, of course, poets celebrate poetry’s
important place in our culture and our lives every April.
Friday, April 13, 2018 10:51:05 AM CDT
