Former Poet Laureate part of writers series
Robert Hass to visit campus Monday
Alex Bender
Issue date: 2/22/08 Section: News
While Gonzaga's Visiting Writers Series has already brought many notable authors to campus, its latest guest speaker may be the most culturally important speaker in Gonzaga's history. Robert Hass, former U.S. Poet Laureate, will give a reading of his poetry open to the public Monday at 7:30 p.m. in the Cataldo Globe room.
"It's the only place he is visiting in the Pacific Northwest," said Dr. Tod Marshall, organizer of the Visiting Writers Series. "I've been getting calls from Seattle with people telling me they want to come in for the reading. Really, it's kind of a nice reversal to have people over there asking to come here."
Hass is a professor of English at the University of California-Berkeley and considered to be one of America's greatest living poets.
Hass has composed six books of his own poetry and has also done considerable work in translating poems by the Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz and several collections of Japanese poetry. Hass has been the recipient of a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship twice and has won multiple awards for his books of poetry.
Perhaps Hass' greatest claim to fame is his stint as U.S. Poet Laureate, from 1995 to 1997.
Taking a much more public role than past poet laureates, Hass tried to bring poetry back into American public life, by making it more accessible and promoting education in poetry at all levels.
"They say the only thing he didn't do was go door to door to talk about poetry," Marshall said.
Gonzaga's booking of Hass was something of a coincidence, as Marshall had previously interviewed him for a book of his own. After receiving a grant for the Visiting Writers Series from Humanities Washington, Marshall contacted him and Hass accepted the invitation.
"He accepted before his book won the National Book Award, so I think we got really lucky in our timing," Marshall said.
Hass' new book, "Time and Materials," won the 2007 National Book Award for poetry, a prestigious honor that cemented his legacy in American poetry. "Time and Materials" is being sold at the reading for the reduced price of $5 to students, faculty and staff, through the Gonzaga bookstore.
"It's the only place he is visiting in the Pacific Northwest," said Dr. Tod Marshall, organizer of the Visiting Writers Series. "I've been getting calls from Seattle with people telling me they want to come in for the reading. Really, it's kind of a nice reversal to have people over there asking to come here."
Hass is a professor of English at the University of California-Berkeley and considered to be one of America's greatest living poets.
Hass has composed six books of his own poetry and has also done considerable work in translating poems by the Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz and several collections of Japanese poetry. Hass has been the recipient of a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship twice and has won multiple awards for his books of poetry.
Perhaps Hass' greatest claim to fame is his stint as U.S. Poet Laureate, from 1995 to 1997.
Taking a much more public role than past poet laureates, Hass tried to bring poetry back into American public life, by making it more accessible and promoting education in poetry at all levels.
"They say the only thing he didn't do was go door to door to talk about poetry," Marshall said.
Gonzaga's booking of Hass was something of a coincidence, as Marshall had previously interviewed him for a book of his own. After receiving a grant for the Visiting Writers Series from Humanities Washington, Marshall contacted him and Hass accepted the invitation.
"He accepted before his book won the National Book Award, so I think we got really lucky in our timing," Marshall said.
Hass' new book, "Time and Materials," won the 2007 National Book Award for poetry, a prestigious honor that cemented his legacy in American poetry. "Time and Materials" is being sold at the reading for the reduced price of $5 to students, faculty and staff, through the Gonzaga bookstore.