UMaine Hosting National Poetry Foundation Conference

The National Poetry Foundation, headquartered at UMaine since 1971, is welcoming nearly 150 writers and scholars from throughout the country and world for its 2012 conference “The Poetry& Poetics of the 1980s” June 27-30.

Keynote poets are Charles Bernstein, Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, Susan Howe and Nathaniel Mackey. Keynote speakers are Kevin Killian and Marjorie Perloff.

Registration opens on Wednesday, June 27, at Doris Twitchell Allen Village. Concurrent panels begin on Thursday, June 28, and will be held in Donald P. Corbett Business Building at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., and 2 p.m. on each day of the conference. Plenary panels are at 4 p.m. in DPC 100 and keynote readings and lectures are at 8 p.m. in Minsky Recital Hall, Class of 1944 Hall. Group readings follow at 10 p.m. in the Bodwell Lounge of the Collins Center for the Arts.

Members of the UMaine and surrounding communities are invited to attend the free conference, which also will feature a small-press book fair.

The internationally recognized National Poetry Foundation (NPF) was established in1971 by UMaine English professor Carroll F. Terrell (1917-2003) as a center for Ezra Pound scholarship. Its mission was expanded by UMaine English professor Burton Hatlen, NPF director from 1990 until his death in 2008, to include the entire tradition of innovative poetry from modernism to the present day. The current editorial collective consists of UMaine faculty members Carla Billitteri, Steve Evans and Ben Friedlander.

For more information, including an online version of the program and speaker biographies, check the NPF blog or contact English professor and acting director of the National Poetry Foundation Steven Evans at (207) 581-3818 or email steven.evans@maine.edu.

Contact: George Manlove, (207) 581-3756