Linfield University hosts a virtual reading with acclaimed poet and essayist Ross Gay at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16. The event will be live streamed on the university’s YouTube channel and is open to the public.
Gay will read excerpts from “The Book of Delights” and “Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude,” followed by a discussion of the texts.
“Ross Gay is the one writer you need to be reading right now,” says Joe Wilkins, director of creative writing at Linfield. “Ross’s poems are fun, wise, and full of rhythm and sound, and reading one of his essays is like having a long talk with a good friend. Ross’s work helps me wake up and welcome the new day.”
Gay is the author of four books of poetry, including “Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude,” which won the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2016 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, in addition to being a finalist for the National Book Award in Poetry. He has received fellowships from Cave Canem, the Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference and the Guggenheim Foundation. Gay is a professor of English at Indiana University.
The event is part of the “Readings from the Nick” series, a collaboration between the Jerald R. Nicholson Library and the Department of English that brings writers of national reputation to campus for classroom visits and public readings. For more information, contact Ginny Blackson at 503-883-2517 or gblackson@linfield.edu.
