Robert Hass, who served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1995-1997 and whose work is rooted in the landscapes of his native Northern California, will visit the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum on Wednesday, Sept. 21 for An Evening with the Poet. The public portion of the program begins at 6:45 p.m. Seating is free, and is on a first-come basis.
During his tenure as Poet Laureate, Robert Hass spent two years battling American illiteracy, armed with the mantra, "imagination makes communities." He crisscrossed the country speaking at Rotary Club meetings, raising money to organize conferences such as "Watershed," which brought together noted novelists, poets, and storytellers to talk about writing, nature, and community. Hass was guest editor of the 2001 edition of Best American Poetry and is the founder of River of Worlds (ROW), an organization that promotes environmental and arts education in affiliation with the Library of Congress Center for the Book. As chairman of ROW's board of directors, he judges their annual international environmental poetry and art contest for youth.
His numerous books of poetry include Sun Under Wood (1996) for which he received the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry, Human Wishes (1990), and Praise (1980). His first collection of poetry, Field Guide, received the prestigious Yale Series of Younger Poets Award in 1973. Hass translated many of the works of Nobel Prize-winning Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz, and was a key speaker and panelist at CMC's Milosz International Festival in 1998.
Hass is professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley and was elected earlier this year to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
The Athenaeum is located at 385 E. Eight Street. For more information, visit the current Fortnightly: http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/mmca/temp_fn.asp?volumeFN=21&issueFN=01&typeFN=f, or call 909-621-8244.