Janet Grayson and Mason Library Lecture is Free and Open to the Public

Keene, NH, April 11, 2012: Keene State College will host former Poet Laureate of the United States, Charles Simic for a poetry reading and discussion. The event will be hosted jointly by the Janet Grayson Lecture in Literary Studies and the Mason Library Lecture, to celebrate the Modern Poetry Archive.

Charles Simic is former Poet Laureate of the United States. His most recent publications include the book of poems, Master of Disguises (2010), and The Renegade: Writings on Poetry and a Few Other things (2009). Simic has also published numerous translations of poets from former Yugoslavia, including Ivan Lalic, Vasko Popa, Tomaz Salamun and Aleksandar Ristovic.

A former professor of English at the University of New Hampshire, Simic’s poetry, prose and translations have been recognized with the Frost Medal, the Wallace Stevens Award, a Pulitzer Prize, two PEN Awards for his translations, and a MacArthur Fellowship.

More on Charles Simic can be found online.

When and where
Centennial Hall, Alumni Center at Keene State College
Thursday, April 19, 4 p.m.

This event is free and open to the public. For details, contact Mark Long, at mlong@keene.edu or 603-358-2695.

About the Janet Grayson Lecture Series
The Annual Janet Grayson Lecture in Literary Studies was established in 2002 to honor professor Grayson's thirty-five years of service to Keene State College. Janet Grayson was the first speaker in 2003 - past speakers also include award-winning authors and poets.

About the Mason Library Lecture Series
The Mason Library Lecture, now in its 23rd year, serves to support, encourage, collect, and disseminate scholarship at Keene State. The purpose of the lecture is to bring to campus scholars whose works or publications have contributed significantly to the disciplines in which they specialize. The lecture series seeks to provide students with learning opportunities outside the classroom and to contribute to the academic life of the campus community.

Modern Poetry Collection at Keene State College
The summer of 2011 marked an important addition to the resources for English majors at Keene State College. Under the guidance of the College Archivist, Rodney Obien, the Mason Library received three significant gifts to establish a Modern Poetry Archive.

The first was a bequest of a 2100-volume modern-poetry library from the family of Frank C. Shuffelton. Shuffelton, a long-time summer resident of Harrisville, New Hampshire, was the chair of the English department at the University of Rochester.

The Shuffelton collection includes first and rare editions of works by John Ashbery, Elizabeth Bishop, Gwendolyn Brooks, Frank O'Hara, Stanley Kunitz, Robert Lowell, Allen Tate, William Carlos Williams, and many other poets.

The College also acquired the editorial and publishing records of Zephyr Press (Brookline, Massachusetts) and Aspect Magazine from the 1960s to 1997. Zephyr Press is best known for publishing the works of the major Eastern European and Chinese poets.

The collection also includes the papers and works of the Monadnock Pastoral Poets -a group led by Rodger Martin, an adjunct faculty member in the KSC Journalism Department and editor of the poetry journal, Worcester Review.

The Monadnock Pastoral Poets include Jim Beschta, Pat Fargnoli (former NH Poet Laureate), Terry Farish, John Hodgen, Adelle Leiblein, and Susan Roney-O'Brien. You can see samples of their work on the group’s website.

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