Joseph Bathanti, North Carolina’s Poet Laureate and a creative writing professor at Appalachian State University, will deliver the Belk Distinguished Lecture Thursday, July 11, at 3:30 p.m. in Room 114 Belk Library and Information Commons on campus. The public is invited.
The event is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the library deck. For more information, call Lynn Patterson at 828-262-2087.
Bathanti is the state’s seventh poet laureate. His presentation is the 14th in a series of Carol Grotnes Belk Distinguished Lectures sponsored by the University Library and is an event of An Appalachian Summer Festival. Irwin and Carol Belk provide funding for the series through the library’s Carol Grotnes Belk Distinguished Professorship.
Bathanti has published numerous books of poetry, two novels and a book of short stories. His work also has been published in literary journals across the country. His awards include the 2012 Ragan-Rubin award, presented to an outstanding North Carolina writer; the 2006 Novello Literary Award; and the 2002 Sherwood Anderson Award. He is a two-time recipient of literature fellowships from the N.C. Arts Council.
Bathanti will sign books during an informal reception following the lecture and books will be available for purchase.
Previous Belk lecturers include southern writers Clyde Edgerton and Ron Rash, and children’s author Gloria Houston.