Donald Hall, the reigning United States Poet Laureate, will read at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24, at Rockhurst University. This event will continue a tradition begun by the Midwest Poets Series in 2002 when it hosted a reading by Poet Laureate Billy Collins and again in 2005 with a reading by Poet Laureate Ted Kooser.

Hall's contributions to the literary world are vast.

"Hall's 60 years of much-honored work have made him an elder statesman among American poets," according to Publishers Weekly.

Hall received degrees from Harvard College and Oxford University. He has published 15 books of poetry, beginning with Exiles and Marriages in 1955. Last year, he published White Apples and the Taste of Stone: Selected Poems 1946-2006. His children's book Ox-Cart Man won the Caldecott Medal. His 20 books of prose include Willow Temple: New and Selected Stories and The Best Day the Worst Day: Life with Jane Kenyon - about his wife of 23 years, who died in 1995.

Hall received the Marshall/Nation Award for his poetry collection The Happy Man; the National Book Critics Circle Award and The Los Angeles Times Book Award for The One Day; the 1994 Lily Prize for Poetry; and two Guggenheim fellowships.

Hall's appearance is a collaborative project among Rockhurst University, the Kansas City Public Library and New Letters at UMKC. Admission at the door is $4 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens. No one will be denied admission for lack of funds. Visitors may park in free lots on Rockhurst's campus. Attendees should enter at 54th and Troost where attendants and signs will provide direction to the Convocation Center.

On Thursday, Jan. 25, Hall will conduct a public taped interview with New Letters on the Air at the Central Branch of the Kansas City Public Library, 14 W. 10th St. The event is scheduled to begin with a reception at 5:30 p.m. with the interview beginning at 6:30 p.m. Visit www.newletters.org for additional information.

Rockhurst University's support for Donald Hall's reading has been underwritten by the Stanley H. Durwood Foundation.

For more information call The Center for Arts and Letters at (816) 501-4607 or (816) 501-4828.