The U of A Program in Creative Writing and Translation in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences is proud to welcome poet Robin Becker as its 2018-19 Walton Visiting Writer in Poetry.

Becker will give a free public reading of her work at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8, in the Graduate Education Building Auditorium on the U of A campus.

Robin Becker's collections of poetry include The Black Bear Inside Me and Tiger Heron, among others. Her ambitious work explores a range of diverse topics including the natural world, feminism and queer identity, visual art, and her own Russian-Jewish heritage. Becker has received fellowships from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Liberal Arts Research Professor of English Emeritus at Penn State, Becker served as the Penn State Laureate during the 2010-2011 academic year.  Recent poems have appeared in The American Poetry Review and The New Yorker.

Each year, the Walton Visiting Writers series in the Program in Creative Writing and Translation brings esteemed authors in poetry, fiction and literary translation to the U of A to give free public readings and to work with graduate students in the creative writing M.F.A. program. Past Walton Writers include Natalie Diaz, Chris Abani, Caryl Phillips, Franz Wright, Esther Allen and Karen Tei Yamashita.

This event is made possible by the Program in Creative Writing and Translation, the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of English, the Walton Family Foundation, and the James E. and Ellen Wadley Roper Professorship in Creative Writing.