“In 1999, I was awarded a Summer Residency from the University of Arizona Poetry Center and I lived for a month in the charming ‘poet’s house’ on campus,” said Beth Ann Fennelly, English professor, Summer Poet in Residence director, and Mississippi Poet Laureate.
“In the years since, I’ve reflected on what a special opportunity that was. Here at UM, we’ve established a poetry residency in the hopes that other writers could receive similar nourishment.”
Since 2007 the Summer Poet in Residence (SPiR) program has supported a poet who desires a quiet, beautiful location in which to further his or her work. The month-long residency provides ample writing time while also enriching summer course offerings with the presence of an active poet on campus and in our community.
“I know our students have gained through their interaction with the SPiRs, who visit classes and give a reading at Off Square Books,” Fennelly said.
The 10 SPiRs are Rose McLarney, Brandon Lamson, Amy Sara Carroll, Mark Wagenaar, Joshua Kryah, Traci Brimhall, Jay Leeming, Sandra Beasley, Jake Adam York, Tung-Hui Hu, and Paula Bohince.
A Look at SPiR Through the Years
All ten broadsides created by Jan Murray, associate dean of liberal arts and professor of art and art history, for the Summer Poets in Residence.
Click on the images to enlarge and take a closer look.
Acrostic Mementos, 2007
Splitting, 2008
Collect, 2009
The Piano Speaks, 2010
River, 2011
Meditation, 2011
Lao Tzu in Exile, 2011
The Hunger River, 2012
The End of Something, 2013
From the Lepidopterist’s Dream Diary, 2014
Amy Sara Carroll, 2015
Parable of the Plants, 2016
Watershed, 2017