Ohio Poet George Bilgere to Present a Reading of His Works on Feb. 9

Free public event to be held in Room 244 of Kauke Hall at The College of Wooster

WOOSTER, Ohio — Ohio poet George Bilgere will visit The College of Wooster for a reading of his works on Wednesday, Feb. 9. The event, which is free and open to the public, begins at 4 p.m. in Room 244 of Kauke Hall (400 E. University St.). Refreshments will be available following the reading, along with a book-signing by the poet and a chance to talk with him about his work.

Bilgere, who also is a professor of English at John Carroll University, has had his poems featured on Garrison Keillor’s The Writer’s Almanac and Ted Kooser’s American Life in Poetry. Former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins, in commenting on Bilgere’s most recent collection of poetry (The White Museum - Autumn House Press), said, “Once again, George Bilgere has shown that imaginative wonders and deep emotional truths can be achieved with plain, colloquial American speech.” Poet Alicia Ostriker also praised his work, saying, “George Bilgere is an absolute whiz at the twists and turns of the glorious English language, the flexible American syntax, as spoken by everybody up and down the great chain of Americanness in our bewitched century.”

Bilgere is a recipient of the May Swenson Poetry Prize for his collection titled Haywire (Utah State University Press), and the University of Akron Poetry Prize for his collection The Good Kiss. Other books include The Going (University of Missouri Press) and Big Bang (Copper Beech Press). He has also been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Witter Bynner Foundation (through the Library of Congress), the Society of Midland Authors, the Ohio Arts Council, and the Fulbright Foundation. In addition, he hosts “Wordplay,” a spoken-word radio program broadcast in the Cleveland area that The Plain Dealer called, “the ‘Car Talk’ of poetry.”

Additional information about Bilgere’s reading is available by phone (330-263-2575) or e-mail.