WFU guest lecturer to discuss poet, WFU graduate A.R. Ammons

Roger Gilbert

Roger Gilbert, professor of English at Cornell University, will discuss “From Whiteville to Ithaca: A. R. Ammons’ Scenic Route” at 7 p.m. March 23 in Wake Forest University’s Scales Fine Arts Center, Room 102. A reception in the main lobby of Scales will follow the free, public event.

Gilbert, who recently edited a special issue of the literary magazine Epoch that was devoted entirely to the life and work of Ammons, is working on a critical biography of the North Carolina-born poet and 1949 Wake Forest graduate. Gilbert has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to help with completion of the biography.

A native of Whiteville, Ammons published 24 books of poetry during his lifetime. Among his many honors were two National Book Awards, the Bollingen Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award and the MacArthur Award. He taught at Cornell University from 1964 until his retirement in 1998 and frequently visited his home state and alma mater. Ammons died in 2001.

For more information, contact 336-758-4849.