Suzanne Rhodes first in a series of poetry events
By: Aurora King
Office of Media Relations
Suzanne Underwood Rhodes
Poet Laureate of Arkansas Suzanne Rhodes will visit the University of Central Arkansas for a poetry reading on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. in the Fireplace Room of McCastlain Hall.
Sponsored by Slant, the Department of English’s journal of contemporary poetry, the reading is free of charge and open to the public.
An informal reception with light refreshments will follow the reading.
The reading will be the first in a proposed series of campus visits by distinguished poets.
“Suzanne Underwood Rhodes was the natural choice to help us inaugurate this series,” said Michael Blanchard, editor of Slant and adjunct professor in UCA’s English department. “She is the state’s new poet laureate, and she is as passionate about teaching the craft of poetry to others as she is writing her own poems. She’ll relate well to students who take advantage of her visit.”
A poet, essayist, editor and teacher, Rhodes is a New York native. She earned her bachelor’s in English from James Madison University and her Master of Arts in creative writing from JohnsHopkins University. She taught creative writing at King University in Tennessee and Saint Leo University in Florida. Now, she conducts remote poetry workshops and courses at the Muse Writers Center in Virginia and runs her own communications business, PR Flair, from her residence in Fayetteville.
Rhodes was named to the post of poet laureate for a four-year term by Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Feb. 1, 2022.
Rhodes is the author of six poetry books and several lyrical essays. Her most recent poetry collection, “Flying Yellow: New and Selected Poems,” was a semifinalist in the North American Book Award of the Poetry Society of Virginia. Additionally, Rhodes authored a guide for student poets titled “The Roar on the Other Side.”
For more information on the event, contact slantpoetry@uca.edu.
