David Baker

The Indiana University East School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) will present the Regional Writers Series: An Evening with Poet David Baker, at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 13, in the Whitewater Hall Community Room. The event is free and open to the public.

Baker is author of 11 books of poetry, most recently Scavenger Loop and Never-Ending Birds, which won the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize in 2011. His five books of prose include Show Me Your Environment: Essays on Poetry, Poets, and Poems and Radiant Lyre: Essays on Lyric Poetry.

Among Baker’s awards are prizes and grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Mellon Foundation, and Society of Midland Authors. He holds the Thomas B. Fordham Chair at Denison University, teaches frequently in the Warren Wilson M.F.A. program for writers, and serves as Poetry Editor of The Kenyon Review.

While at IU East, Baker will also work directly with students during a one-hour workshop.

Tanya Perkins, lecturer of English, said the Regional Writers Series provides students with an opportunity to connect with professional writers.

“Our Regional Writers Series lets students meet some really wonderful writers in person, to talk, ask questions and just get to know them.  It is the kind of experience that makes college life memorable,” Perkins said.

HSS will host one author a semester as part of the Regional Writers Series. In the spring, Katy Didden, poet, and assistant professor of English at Ball State, will visit.

The Regional Writers Series is presented by the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.