Oklahoma City University will host one of Britain’s most acclaimed contemporary poets and one of its most eloquent communicators for a series of events April 5. Simon Armitage will be the 19th poet in the annual Thatcher Hoffman Smith Poetry Series.
The poet will appear in an informal morning session at 9:30 a.m. to read some of his poems, discuss his writing process and respond to questions. A formal poetry reading will take place at 8 p.m., preceded by an open-mic reading from 6:15 to 7:30 p.m. for poets of all experience levels to share their work.
All events are free to the public and will take place in the Kerr McGee Auditorium of the Meinders School of Business at NW 27th Street and McKinley Avenue. Armitage’s books will be available for purchase on site, and each reading will be followed by a signing.
Armitage is the professor of poetry at Oxford University and the University of Sheffield. In 2010, for services to poetry, Armitage was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. His numerous other awards include the Sunday Times Young Author of the Year, one of the first Forward Prizes, a Lannan Award, a Cholmondeley Award and the Keats-Shelley Poetry Prize.
He also writes extensively for radio and television, and is the author of four stage plays including “Mister Heracles” — a version of the Euripides play “The Madness of Heracles” — and “The Last Days of Troy,” performed at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2014. He has published two novels — “Little Green Man” (2001) and “The White Stuff” (2004). His other prose works include the three best-selling non-fiction titles “All Points North,” “Walking Home, a Poet’s Journey” and “Walking Away.”
Poetry series organizer Tracy Floreani said she is grateful the series exists so that Oklahomans can experience in person some of the finest living poets.
“People here care about culture and the arts,” Floreani said. “There’s something amazing about a group of people listening to a poet read his own work, everyone connecting through language.”
This year’s event is unique because the series has never before hosted a poet from outside the U.S.
Oklahoma City University’s Center for Interpersonal Studies through Film & Literature, Petree College of Arts and Sciences, English Department; and with Oklahoma Humanities, Oklahoma Arts Institute, Oklahoma Writing Project and Full Circle Bookstore. For more information, call 405-208-5707 or visit okcufilmlit.org.
