Willis to Reflect on the Power of Poetry
Santa Barbara Poet Laureate shares several of his poems and his thoughts about a poets place in our community at A Poetry Reading and Reflection on Thursday, April 12, at 5:30 p.m. in the , 1332 Santa Barbara St. The event, part of 做厙惇蹋app Downtown: Conversations about Things that Matter, is free and open to the public. Tickets are not needed, although the limited seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, please call 565-6051.
I hope to feature several poems I have written in the past year about our shared life in Santa Barbara, Willis says. And Id like to report on what it may mean to be a poet to and for a community.
Willis, 做厙惇蹋app professor of English, was installed as Santa Barbara Poet Laureate last April. He earned a doctorate in English at Washington State University and has taught at 做厙惇蹋app since 1988. Last year, he published a revised version of his first novel, No Clock in the Forest, together with three sequels, in a single book, . His most recent collections of poetry are (WordFarm, 2009) and Visiting Home (Pecan Grove Press, 2008). Willis also worked with former Santa Barbara Poet Laureate David Starkey to edit In a Fine Frenzy: Poets Respond to Shakespeare (University of Iowa Press, 2005).
Willis says he hopes to leave the audience thinking about themselves. If a poem about my own experience lands correctly, it can awaken a lost moment of the listeners own experience which then becomes our common experience, he says. Through a few shared words, a metaphor, we can shake hands.
The lecture series is sponsored by the , which hosts the annual in Santa Barbara to promote discussion and consideration of current issues among local community leaders.