Acclaimed Poet Dorianne Laux to Give Free Reading at U of A

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Dorianne Laux

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Poet Dorianne Laux will read from her work at 7p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11 in Giffels Auditorium, Old Main.  She will appear as part of the University of Arkansas Program in Creative Writing and Translation Distinguished Readers Series. The reading is free and open to the public and a book signing will follow. No tickets are required, but seating is limited.

“We're delighted to host a poet of Ms. Laux's sensibility and skill,” said Davis McCombs, director of the Program in Creative Writing and Translation. “The directness of her language, the curiosity and wonder she brings to her topics, her frank approach to writing—all make for poetry that is exceptional and accessible. We expect this to be a terrific reading to share with our community.” 

A poet of renowned intimacy and insight, Laux has authored five collections, most recently, The Book of Men, which won the 2012 Paterson Poetry Prize. Her fourth book, Facts About the Moon, won the Oregon Book Prize, and her collection, What We Carry, was named a finalist for the National Book Critics' Circle Award.

Among her many honors, Laux has held a Guggenheim Fellowship and twice earned grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. Her work is widely anthologized and celebrated for its down-to-earth sensuality and ability to lend lyricism to matters domestic and familiar. 

Laux has taught creative writing for 24 years and currently lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she directs the MFA program at North Carolina State University. In addition to her reading on the UA campus, she will present a master class to students in the U of A MFA program in creative writing.

The Distinguished Readers Series is made possible by the U of A Fine Arts Activities Fee, the Department of English, and the James E. and Ellen Wadley Roper Professorship in Creative Writing. Past Distinguished Readers include novelists Joyce Carol Oates, Andre Dubus III, Shahrnush Parsipur, and Roy Blount Jr., as well as poets W.S. Merwin, Ellen Bryant Voigt, and Robert Hass.