May 1 Event Part of Countywide Writers in Performance Program

Continuing the long-running annual tradition of sonnet and verse, Lone Star College-Montgomery’s Writers In Performance series hosts a celebration in honor of acclaimed poet Walt Whitman’s birthday, on Thursday, May 1, at 3 p.m., in the Library Building (Building F).

A panel consisting of distinguished Whitman scholars—Oklahoma Poet Laureate Nathan Brown; Texas State professor and poet Roger Jones, and Professor Emeritus from the University of Illinois Michael Anania—will discuss Whitman’s work, life, and poetry style. The discussion will be moderated by Cliff Hudder, English professor at LSC-Montgomery.

Whitman is generally considered the Father of American Poetry. His actual birthday is May 31.

Later that evening, the celebration continues when other published poets and Whitman fans assemble for the annual Gathering of Poets, at 7 p.m., at Dosey Doe in Conroe.

The evening festivities, led by Texas Poet Laureate and LSC-Montgomery adjunct faculty member Dave Parsons, will include poetry readings from a multitude of distinguished poets each reading their favorite Walt Whitman passage, as well as one of their own poems. This year’s poets include Michael Anania, Alan Ainsworth, Chuck Taylor, Robin Davidson, Roger Jones, John Gorman, Melissa Studdard, Ken Jones, John Mikereit, Jerry Bradley, Randy Watson, Dede Fox, Hallie Moore, and Nathan Brown.

All events are free and open to the public.

Writers in Performance is a reading program dedicated to bringing the most distinguished minds and their bright visions to the citizens of Montgomery County through thought-provoking literature and cultural diversity. The series’ events are made possible by the partnership between the Montgomery County Literary Arts Council, LSC-Montgomery Library, the Conroe Commission on the Arts and Culture, Good Books in the Woods, LSC-Montgomery’s Academy for Lifelong Learning, and SWIRL, LSC-Montgomery’s magazine of student art and writing.

For more information, visit www.LoneStar.com/WIP; or contact Dave Parsons, adjunct professor of English at LSC-Montgomery, at (936) 524-6537 or David.M.Parsons@lonestar.edu; or contact Cliff Hudder, professor of English at LSC-Montgomery, at (936) 273-7399 or Clifford.W.Hudder@LoneStar.edu.

LSC-Montgomery is located at 3200 College Park Drive, one-half mile west of Interstate 45, between Conroe and The Woodlands. For more information about the college, call 936.273.7000, or visit www.LoneStar.edu/montgomery.