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February 15, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Poet Tony Hoagland to Visit Smith

NORTHAMPTON, Mass.—During a single week in March, Smith College will present a reading and lecture by award-winning poet Tony Hoagland.  Both the reading at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4, in Stoddard Auditorium, and the lecture at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 6, in the Poetry Center, Wright Hall, are free and open to the public.

The author of three volumes of poetry—“Sweet Ruin” (winner of the Brittingham Prize), “Donkey Gospel” (winner of the James Laughlin Award) and, most recently, a chapbook titled “Hard Rain”—as well the critically acclaimed book of essays “Real Sofistikashun,” Hoagland is recipient of the 2005 Mark Twain Award from the Poetry Foundation for his use of humor in poetry, the O.B. Hardison, Jr., Prize and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation and the Academy of Arts and Letters. He has been a frequent faculty member of the Warren Wilson Master of Fine Arts Program and currently teaches at the University of Houston.

“There is nothing escapist or diversionary about Hoagland’s poetry,” said Stephen Young of the Poetry Foundation. Young went on to explain that Hoagland’s poems explore illness, death, beauty, sexuality, American society and adolescence by walking shamelessly straight into the locker room, supermarket, hospital or lesbian bar. Poet Marie Howe said Hoagland’s “What Narcissism Means to Me” includes “hilarious, searing poems that break your heart so fast you hardly notice you’re standing knee deep in a pool of implications.”

Hoagland’s public appearances are part of a week-long residency at Smith, which will consist of workshops and student conferences. His visit to the Pioneer Valley is made possible by a generous gift from a Smith alumna, who has asked to remain unnamed.

The March 4 reading will be followed by a book sale and signing. For further information, call Cindy Furtek in the Poetry Center office at (413) 585-4891 or Ellen Doré Watson, director, at (413) 585-3368.

For disability access information or to request accommodations, please call (413) 585-2407. To request a sign language interpreter specifically, call(413) 585-2071 (voice or TTY) or e-mail  ODS@smith.edu. All requests must be made at least 10 days prior to the event.

Office of College Relations
Smith College
Garrison Hall
Northampton, Massachusetts 01063

Marti Hobbes
News Assistant
T (413) 585-2190
F (413) 585-2174
mhobbes@email.smith.edu

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