Brad Johnson, winner of the Wheelbarrow Books Poetry Competition for Smuggling Elephants Through Airport Security, will discuss locality, humor and rhyme—essential elements found in Theodore Roethke’s work that aren't always present in today’s poetry.
Johnson will examine Roethke’s ‘The Saginaw Song’ from this perspective and read poems that use locality, humor and rhyme from Smuggling Elephants Through Airport Security. Anita Skeen, Series Editor at Wheelbarrow Books, will introduce Johnson and read several poems that also make use of these elements.
About Brad Johnson Michigan-born poet Brad Johnson’s second book Smuggling Elephants Through Airport Security (Michigan State University Press) was selected by Carolyn Forche for the 2018 Wheelbarrow Books Poetry Prize. Work of his has also been accepted by Carolina Quarterly, Hayden’s Ferry Review, J Journal, Meridian, Poet Lore, Tar River Poetry and others. He holds an MFA from the University of Miami and teaches at Palm Beach State College.
Anita Skeen is currently Professor Emerita in the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities at Michigan State University where she was the Founding Director of The RCAH Center for Poetry at MSU and is the Series Editor for Wheelbarrow Books. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Friends of Theodore Roethke Foundation in Saginaw, MI
She is the author of seven volumes of poetry. Her poetry, short fiction, and essays have appeared in numerous literary magazines and anthologies. Collaboration is an important aspect of her work and she currently involved in writing and visual art projects with poets Jane Taylor and Cindy Hunter Morgan.
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