Announcing FOTR’s 2022 Virtual Speaker Series

In August, many of us who attended the Open House Poetry Slam were struck by how much poetry addressed themes of isolation, illness, and loss related to the COVID pandemic. Similarly, we have encountered common stories from mental health organizations, from our students, and from our friends and family: Our community is craving connection. 

In response, FOTR has organized a 2022 Virtual Speaker Series with twelve evening talks organized into three themes. These themes resonate with Roethke’s legacy: “Place and Landscape,” celebrates our relationships with the landscapes surrounding us; “Health and Wellness” focuses on connection with our own minds and bodies; and “The Power of Language,” invites us to dive deeply into Roethke’s poetry and connect with a community of writers inspired by Roethke’s work.

We hope you will join us to chat with some or all of these incredible writers.

All events take place via Zoom on Tuesdays at 7:00pm EST.

Part One: “Place and Landscape”

Roethke once wrote, “When I get alone under an open sky where man isn’t too evident,—then I’m tremendously exalted and a thousand vivid ideas and sweet visions flood my consciousness.” But what happens when a landscape we love—the open sky, Michigan’s Saginaw Valley, any place that resonates as “home”—becomes threatened or inaccessible? The Place and Landscape theme will ask us to consider our place in this world and the effect of the landscape surrounding us. Our speakers will expose us to Native American poets from the North Olympic Peninsula, writers from the Cascadian bioregion, and a cast of formerly incarcerated actors performing original work in New York.

• January 18: Richard Hoehler — UNLOCKED: How a Theatre Workshop Broke Down Prison Walls

• February 1: Alice Derry and Kate Reavey — Native Poets: In their own Voices

• February 15: Brian Gilmore — A Letter to John A. Williams

• March 1: Holly Hughes and Rena Priest – A Gathering of Voices from the Heart of Cascadia

All four Place and Landscape events will be moderated by Anita Skeen, Professor Emerita in the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities at Michigan State University where she is the Founding Director of The Center for Poetry and currently the Series Editor for Wheelbarrow Books. She has been the Coordinator of the Creative Arts Program at Ghost Ranch for 41 years, and the Fall Writing Festival for 23 years. She is the author of six volumes of poetry and recipient of the William J. Beale Outstanding Faculty Award at Michigan State University.

The themes, dates, and speakers for the remainder of the series are as follows. We will post additional details as plans are finalized.

Part Two: “Health and Wellness,” moderated by Carol Barrett

• March 8: Tess Gallagher

• March 22: Jennifer Clement and Suzanne Mallouk, in conversation

• April 19: Carol Barrett

• April 26: Diane Seuss

Part Three: “The Power of Language,” moderated by Bill Barillas and featuring writers from his 2020 edited collection, A Field Guide to the Poetry of Theodore Roethke. 

• May 3: TBD

• May 10: TBD

• May 17: TBD

• May 24: TBD