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Spring 2004
Visiting Writer
Jerry Williams
Wednesday, March 3 -- "A Poetry Reading by Jerry Williams"
7pm • East Room RTUC
On March 3, 2004 Collage will sponsor a poetry reading by Jerry Williams. Williams will read from his book of poems Casino of the Sun, available at the Millikin University Bookstore. The bookstore will also be present at the reading to sell copies of the book, and Williams will be happy to sign books for those in attendance. Williams will also visit creative writing classes on Thursday, March 4, and will field student questions about his work as poet and literary magazine editor. Later on Thursday, he will lead a professional development workshop for the Collage staff.
Poetry Reading by Jerry Williams, Author of Casino of the Sun
Jerry Williams’s entire family, on both sides, originated from Harlan, Kentucky, a coal town in the southeaster part of the bluegrass state, a place of great importance to trade union organizers and labor historians. Ever the outsider, Williams was himself born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, hometown of poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar, the Wright brothers, and Rob Lowe. He received his B.A. in English from Vermont College, sang in an alternative pop band named after a Sam Shepard play, and played the roles of landscaper, typist, bartender, delivery driver (auto parts), cashier, telephone solicitor, cardboard box maker, and librarian’s assistant at Princeton before arriving in Arizona, where he received his M.F.A. from the University of Arizona. He is completing his doctoral degree at Oklahoma State University, where he served as Associate Editor of Cimarron Review, one of the oldest literary magazines in the country. He is currently Writer-in-Residence at Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island.
His first collection of poems, Casino of the Sun, was published by Carnegie-Mellon University Press in February of 2003 and recently became one of ten finalists for the Kate Tufts Discovery Award. His poetry and creative fiction have appeared in American Poetry Review, Crazyhorse, Exquisite Corpse, Sycamore Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, The Southeast Review, Barrow Street, Under the Sun and others. He has received a New Jersey Arts Council Fellowship and several Academy of American Poets awards. He loves children and animals.
by Dr. Carmella Braniger, Assistant Professor of English
and Co-Advisor of Collage
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