Poet Pinsky to open new lecture series

Poet Pinsky to open new lecture series

Life in small-town America has long been a fruitful source for stories — from beauty-shop gossip to literary masterpieces. This might be why authors, poets and filmmakers continually return to “town” for inspiration.

Photo by Emma Dodge Hanson

Robert Pinsky

Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky (1997-2000) will examine the topic of the American town Oct. 18-20 as he presents three original lectures, “The American Town: Dreams and Nightmares,” launching the School of Humanities’ new Campbell Lecture Series.

Pinsky writes, “The cultural richness and aridity of American provincial towns, the constricting yet enabling life of the provincial microcosm — these conflicts also give enduring life to works like Willa Cather’s ‘My Antonia,’ Preston Sturges’ films ‘The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek’ and ‘Hail the Conquering Hero’ and poems by Edwin Arlington Robinson, Robert Frost and William Carlos Williams.”

The lectures, which are free and open to the public, will begin at 7:30 p.m. Seating will begin at 6:30 p.m. The Oct. 18 and 19 lectures will be in Stude Concert Hall in Alice Pratt Brown Hall. The Oct. 20 lecture will be in Herring Hall, Room 100.

Throughout his career, Pinsky has been dedicated to identifying and invigorating poetry’s place in the world. As poet laureate, he became a public ambassador for poetry, founding the “Favorite Poem Project,” for which thousands of Americans of varying backgrounds and ages from all parts of the country shared their favorite poems. Contrary to stereotype, Pinsky said, poetry has a vigorous presence in the American cultural landscape. The project seeks to document that presence, giving voice to the American audience for poetry. The original anthologies “Americans’ Favorite Poems” and “Poems to Read,” which include letters from project participants, became best-sellers.

Pinsky’s own poems have been described as elegant, tough and vividly imaginative and have earned praise for their formal dexterity, unique music and ambitious range. He is the author of six acclaimed collections of poetry, most recently “Jersey Rain.” His collection “The Figured Wheel” was a Pulitzer Prize nominee and received the Lenore Marshall Award and the Ambassador Book Award from the English Speaking Union. His other honors include Poetry Magazine’s Oscar Blumenthal prize, the William Carlos Williams Award and a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship. He was elected in 1999 to the American Academy of Arts and Letters and is among the few members of that academy who have also appeared in a cameo role on the television show “The Simpsons.” He currently is poetry editor of a weekly Internet magazine, Slate. He teaches in the graduate writing program at Boston University.

Pinsky’s presentations launch the Campell Lecture Series, established with a $1 million endowment from alumnus T.C. Campbell ’34. The School of Humanities and Campbell have collaborated over the past year to create a series to support both parties’ commitment to the study of literature. The end result is an annual 20-year lecture series that will be open to the public and present original ideas on topics of interest in literature.

“The lecture series will allow us to foster the study of humanities, specifically literature, throughout the campus and the community,” Campbell said. “Rice is a great school, and I feel it is important to give back to a university that has been such an important part of my life.”

Chaired by Gary Wihl, dean of the School of Humanities, the Francis Moody Newman Professor in Humanities and professor of English, a community advisory committee organized the activities of the lecture series and includes Robert Patten, the Lynette S. Autrey Professor in Humanities at Rice; Karl Kilian, owner of Brazos Bookstore; Rich Levy, executive director of Inprint; James Gibbons, a member of the Houston Chronicle editorial board; and Edward Hirsch, president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

For more information on the lecture series, visit <www.rice.edu/campbelllecture> or call 713-348-4998.