WVU Native American Studies Program to Host Noted Poet

Morgantown, W. Va., January 2, 2007: A nationally-regarded poet will visit the West Virginia University campus as a guest of the Native American Studies Program.

Allison Hedge Coke, named 2005 Writer of the Year in Poetry by the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers, will be the first presenter in the NAS Sycamore Circle series for 2007. Hedge Coke will offer a poetry reading, discussion, and book-signing on Thursday, January 11, at 6:00 p.m. in the Rhododendron Room of the Mountainlair on WVU's Downtown campus. A reception at 5:30 p.m. will precede the reading. The evening's events are free and open to the public.

Hedge Coke is of Huron, Eastern Tsalagi, French Canadian, and Portuguese descent. She holds an AFA from the Institute for American Indian Arts and an MFA from Vermont College. Her poetry has been published in 28 books, anthologies or journals. Hedge Coke has a long list of honors and awards to her credit, including the 2001 Mentor of the Year from Wordcraft Circle for her work with incarcerated Native youth, a 1999 Individual Artist Project Grant from the South Dakota State Arts Council, and the Abiko Quarterly editor's choice award in 1995. Her poetry volume Dog Road Woman won the 1998 American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation, and she has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize twice.

The Sycamore Circle series consists of informal lectures and discussions meant to highlight and encourage the sharing of creative work and research on wide-ranging Native American topics. The Circles are conducted by faculty and students (from WVU and from other campuses) and by scholars and professionals serving in relevant fields. Hedge Coke's appearance at WVU is co-sponsored by the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, Native American Studies Program, Department of English, Center for Women's Studies, Division of Social Work, and Dr. John Ernest, Eberly Faculty Distinguished Professor of English.

For more information, please see http://www.wvu.edu/~nas or contact Bonnie M. Brown, Coordinator of the Native American Studies Program in WVU’s Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, at native_american_studies@mail.wvu.edu or 304-293-4626.

For more on our Sycamore Circle Series click here.