WILSON, N.C. — Make plans to attend the annual “Walking into April Poetry Day” to be held at Barton College on Saturday, April 12. This year brings another distinguished group of poets to celebrate the written word in the spirit of Sam Ragan. “Walking into April” is sponsored by the North Carolina Poetry Society, Barton College, and the Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet Series, and funded by the late Marie Gilbert. Featured poets for the “Walking into April” morning sessions are Malaika King Albrecht and Daniel Nathan Terry. The day will also feature Lavonne Adams, Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet for Eastern North Carolina, and the Gilbert-Chappell student poets.
The program is open to the public at no charge, with the exception of lunch. Participants may reserve space for lunch, at $9.50 per person, by emailing Dr. Rebecca Godwin at rlgodwin@barton.edu, or by calling Joyce Sutton in the Department of English, Modern Languages, Religion and Philosophy, at 252-399-6454. The deadline for lunch reservations is April 9. Participants may bring their payment for these advance reservations on April 12.
The daylong event will begin at 9 a.m. with “Coffee and Conversation” in The Sam and Marjorie Ragan Writing Center, followed by “Greetings and Poems” by past Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet Lenard Moore. Albrecht and Terry will kick off the morning session at 9:45 a.m. and moderate the “Roundtable Discussion” before lunch. The afternoon will include a time for book signing followed by the presentations of Lavonne Adams and the Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet Series Student Poets. The “Open Microphone” session, for all participants to share their work, will conclude the poetry event.
For additional information, please contact Dr. Godwin at rlgodwin@barton.edu.
Featured Speakers:
Albrecht has published three volumes of poetry: “What the Trapeze Artist Trusts,” a finalist for the 2012 Next Generation Indie Book Award, and chapbooks “Spill” and “Lessons in Forgetting.” She is founding editor of “Redheaded Stepchild,” an online magazine that accepts only poems rejected elsewhere. She lives in Ayden and is a therapeutic riding instructor.
Terry has published three books of poetry: “Waxwings,” “Days of Dark Miracles,” and “Capturing the Dead,” which won The Stevens Prize. Twice nominated for the Lambda Book Award, he serves as editor for the non-profit education organization One Pause Poetry. His work has appeared in many journals, including “Cimarron Review” and “New South.” He teaches at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
Adams is the author of “Through the Glorieta Pass,” “Everyday Still Life,” and “In the Shadow of the Mountain.” Recent journal publications include poems in “Prairie Schooner” and “Cincinnati Review.” She has completed residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and the Harwood Museum of Art, and currently serves as the MFA Coordinator in the Department of Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
Student poets selected for this year’s Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet Series are Fike High School student Elizabeth Dogbe, John T. Hoggard High School student Ciara Henihan, Barton College student Angela Lopez, and adult student poet Addy Robinson McCulloch of Wilmington.
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