The Jack Ridl Visiting Writers Series will continue on March 6 with readings from poets Nancy Eimers and Bill Olsen.
Nancy Eimers has published four collections of poetry in the past 11 years, three of which are available in Van Wylen Library. Several of her poems have also been published in literary journals. Her most recent collection of poetry, Oz, came out in 2011. She has received the Nation “Discovery” award, a Whiting Writers Award, two NEA fellowships, and a Pushcart Prize for her writings. She is currently a professor of creative writing and contemporary poetry at Western Michigan University and also teaches in the MFA Program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Bill Olsen is also a professor of creative writing and contemporary poetry at Western Michigan University and a teacher in the MFA Program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Olsen has released five collections of poetry, including Sand Theory, which came out last spring. Many of his poems are also available online. Olsen has received several awards, including a 2005 Guggenheim Fellowship, a NEA Creative Writing Fellowship, and the Texas Institute of Arts Award.
Eimers and Olsen will give readings of their works at the Knickerbocker Theatre at 7 p.m. on March 6. A performance by a Hope jazz ensemble will precede the reading at 6:30 p.m.
— Bethany Stripp, Library Student Blogger