The Hope College Visiting Writers Series program will conclude its 2005-06 season with a reading by Barbara Hamby and David Kirby on Thursday, April 6, at 7 p.m. at the DeWitt Center main theatre.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
Hamby is a poet and writer-in-residence at Florida State University. Her first full-length book, "Delirium," won the Vassar Miller Prize, the Kate Tufts Discovery Award and the Poetry Society of America's Norma Farber First Book Prize. Her second book, "The Alphabet of Desire," won the New York University Prize for Poetry and was chosen by the New York Public Library as one of the 25 best books of 1999. Her third book, "Babel," was chosen by Stephen Dunn for the 2003 AWP/Donald Hall Prize. Her poems have appeared in "Best American Poetry 2000," "Pushcart Prizes 2001," "The Paris Review," "The Iowa Review," "The Kenyon Review" and many other magazines.
Kirby, the author or co-author of 22 books, also teaches poetry at Florida State University. He has received many honors for his work, including the Brittingham Prize in Poetry and citations in "Best American Poetry" 2000 and 2001, and "Pushcart Prize XXV." He has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and Florida Arts Council. Kirby's works include the poetry collections "The Ha-Ha,""The House of Blue Light" and "The Traveling Library," in addition to a collection of essays, "What Is a Book?" His verse has appeared in such publications as "The Kenyon Review,""Southern Review," and"Ploughshares." A member of the National Book Critics Circle, Kirby also writes regularly for "The New York Times Book Review,""The Atlanta Journal-Constitution" and "The San Francisco Chronicle."
The reading will be preceded by a performance by the Hope College Jazz Ensemble beginning at 6:30 p.m.
The DeWitt Center is located on Columbia Avenue at 12th Street.