CONWAY,
Ark. (January 24, 2013) - Renowned poet and translator Arthur Sze will present "An
Evening with Murphy Visiting Poet Arthur Sze,"on Thursday, Feb. 7, at 7:30 p.m.,
in Reves Recital Hall at Hendrix.
A book signing and reception will follow in Trieschmann
Gallery. The event is free and open to the public.
This event is sponsored by the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation
Programs in Literature and Language. For more information, contact Henryetta Vanaman
at 501-450-4597 or vanaman@hendrix.edu.
Sze, the 2012-2013 Murphy Visiting Poet, is described as "a poet of clarity and
compassion" and is a highly sought-after teacher and presenter. He has served as
poet-in-residence at Mary Baldwin College, Washington University, and most recently
Centre College.
Born in New York City to Chinese immigrants, Sze attended
the University of California at Berkeley where he was inspired by Denise Levertov
to study poetry over electrical engineering.
Sze is the author of eight collections of poetry including The Red-Shifting
Web and Quipu, and most recently, The Gingko Light.
As an editor, Sze's projects include Chinese Writers on Writing, an anthology
that brings together material by contemporary Chinese writers reflecting on their
work, their processes, and the challenges of writing under China's political system.
From 2006-2008, Sze served as the City of Santa Fe's first Poet Laureate. He
is the recipient of awards from the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the Lannan Foundation,
the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Witter Bynner Foundation. Sze is Professor
Emeritus of Creative Writing for the Institute of American Indian Arts, where he
taught for over twenty years, mentoring a new wave of innovative and groundbreaking
Native American poets that have included Sherwin Bitsui, Orlando White, Santee Frazier,
dg nanouk okpik, and others.
The Murphy Visiting Poet Series has included such nationally and internationally
recognized poets as Michael Ondaatje, Allen Ginsberg, Seamus Heaney, Gwendolyn Brooks,
Rita Dove, Ishmael Reed, Ted Kooser, Donald Hall, and Jorie Graham.
Founded in 1876, Hendrix College is a national leader in engaged liberal arts
and sciences education. For the fifth consecutive year, Hendrix was named one of
the country's "Up and Coming" liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report.
Hendrix is featured in the 2012 edition of the Princeton Review as one of the country's
best 377 colleges, the latest edition of Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools
That Will Change the Way You Think about Colleges, Forbes magazine's
annual list of America's Top 650 Colleges, and the 2013 edition of the Fiske Guide
to Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since
1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.