NEA Chairman Will Be Orator in Residence at University of Richmond
September 16, 2004
Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, will be orator in residence at the University of Richmond Sept. 30-Oct. 1.
Poet, critic, educator and former business executive, Gioia wrote the 1991 Atlantic Monthly article "Can Poetry Matter?" about the role of poetry in contemporary culture. His collection of poems, "Interrogations at Noon," won the 2002 American Book Award.
He has been a commentator on American culture and literature for BBC Radio, classical music critic for San Francisco magazine, translator of Latin, Italian, German and Romanian poetry, and founder of the nation's largest annual all-poetry writing conference. His anthology, "Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama," is the best-selling college literary textbook in America.
Gioia will give a poetry reading Sept. 30 at 4 p.m. in the Brown-Alley room of Weinstein Hall. On Oct. 1, he will deliver a keynote address at a 12 p.m. luncheon. At 2 p.m., he will lead a panel discussion on the orator-in-residence program's theme "The Professional and the Poet" in the Brown-Alley room of Weinstein Hall. For luncheon reservations at $25 per person, call (804) 287-6409. All other events are open to the public at no charge. For additional information, visit speech.richmond.edu/special/.