On Thursday, the Heidelberg community will come together to celebrate the life and works of America’s most loved poets, William Stafford.
President Rob Huntington and Dr. Bill Reyer, the co-hosts of this event, “believe that the William Stafford Birthday Celebration is not just a celebration of poetry, but also of true humanity.”
President Huntington has a personal connection with the poet, as their families have been close friends since meeting in Lake Oswego, Ore., many years ago.
Stafford was born on Jan. 17, 1914, and taught Lewis and Clark College for 30 years. He is known and celebrated for his encouragement of other writers and his support of free expression in writing and speech. He has written more than 50 books and has won the National Book Award. He died in August 1993.
As part of the third annual birthday celebration, a contest honoring the style of Stafford’s poetry is also being held. Students have a chance to win up to $50 for first prize. For this competition, students will be using the first line of one of Stafford’s poems and to compose their own work, utilizing the inspiration from Stafford. The competition will be judged by a panel of Heidelberg faculty. Winners will share their poems at the celebration.
Participation in this event is encouraged. Those who are willing to participate are only required to find a poem written by Stafford and to read it aloud during the program.
Poems can be located on the Friends of William Stafford website at www.williamstafford.org/pages/writings. An open mic session also will be part of the event.
The event is free and open to the public and runs from 5 to 7 pm in Herbster Chapel. For more information, contact Reyer at wreyer@heidelberg.edu.