Midwest Poets Series, sponsored by The Center for Arts and Letters, enhances the literary and intellectual lives of Rockhurst University, the Kansas City community and the surrounding region. Our events are free and in person and open to all. Support for the Midwest Poets Series is provided by the Missouri Arts Council and Center for Arts and Letters.
Jameelah Lang, Ph.D., Rockhurst University Assistant Professor of English, is the director for the Midwest Poets Series.
The Midwest Poets Series 2024-25 season:
Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024: Melissa Ferrer Civil and Glenn North
Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024: David Tomas Martinez
Thursday, Jan. 23, 6:30 p.m., Arrupe Hall auditorium: Carl Phillips. More information and registration here.
Wednesday, Feb. 19, 6:30 p.m., Arrupe Hall auditorium: Sarah Ghazal Ali. More information and registration here.
For information about this series or other Rockhurst University cultural events, call The Center for Arts and Letters at 816-501-5510 or email poppy.dicandeloro@rockhurst.edu.
Rockhurst University Midwest Poets Series Past Readings:
2023-24
Janine Joseph (pictured)
Kevin Prufer
Erika Meitner
Karyna McGlynn
Leila Chatti
Marlin Jenkins
George Abraham
Khadijah Queen
2022-23
Naomi Shihab Nye
Erin Adair-Hodges
Courtney Faye Taylor (pictured)
2021-22
Hadara Bar-Nadav (pictured)
Gabrielle Calvocoressi
Sally Wen Mao
Vievee Francis
2020-21
Patricia Cleary Miller
Jenny Molberg
Bridget Lowe (pictured)
Nicole Sealey
Ross Gay
2010-19
David Baker (pictured)
Donika Kelly
Ada Limón
Ilya Kaminsky (cancelled due to pandemic)
Robert Stewart
Marcus Jackson
Katheyn Nuernberger
Nikky Finney
Marcus Wicker
B.H. Fairchild
Monica Young
Patricia Smith
Edward Hirsch
Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill
Jerico Brown
Charles Harper Webb
Robin Robertson
Claudia Rankine
Rodney Jones
Ellen Bass
Dave Smith
Alice Friman
Dunya Mikhail
Vijay Seshadri
Adam Zagajewski
Dave Smith
Janice Harrington
William Trowbridge
Tracy Smith
Valzhyna Mort
Mark Doty
Les Murray
Tracy Smith
Valzhyna Mort
Mark Doty
Les Murray
Robert Bly
Michelle Boisseau
Walter Bargen
Aliki Barnstone
Brian Turner
Gertrud Schackenberg
Kay Ryan
David Clewell
2000-09
Robert Pinsky (pictured)
Mary Jo Bang
Beth Ann Fennelly
Ray Young Bear
Charles Simic
Mia Leonin
Debra Marquart
B.H. Fairchild
Charles Simic
Mia Leonin
Debra Marquart
Willis Barnstone
Kim Addonizio
Major Jackson
Natasha Trethewey
Ingrid de Kok
Heather McHugh
Donald Hall
Kevin Young
Andrei Codrescu
Margo Livesey
Laura Kasischke
Paul Muldoon
Thomas Kennedy
Terrance Hayes
Marilyn Kalley
Linda Pastan
David Baker
Cornelius Eady
Albert Goldbarth
Janet Burroway
Billy Collins
Quincy Troupe
Paulette Jiles
Dennis Finnell
Maxine Kumin
Daniel Woodrell
John Balaban
Marilyn Hacker
Robin Becker
Dorianne Laux
1990-99
W. S. Merwin (pictured)
Marilyn Nelson
Tim Seibles
Henry Taylor
Mark Doty
David Lyhman
Colleen J McElroy
C.D. Wright
Yehuda Amichai
L-Young Lee
Judith Ortiz Cofer
Joy Williams
Amiri Baraka
Stephen Dunn
Carolyn Kizer
Amy Bloom
Yusef Komunyakaa
Ellen Bryant Voight
Paule Marshall
Rosellen Brown
Eavan Boland
Alberto Rios
William Matthews
Luisa Valenzuela
Gerald Stern
Lorrie Moore
Sven Birkerts
Jane Hirshfield
Philip Levine
Adrian C. Louis
Sharold Olds
Donald Revell
Galway Kinnell
Amy Gerstler
Sandra Cisneros
Charles Simic
Grace Paley
Derek Walcott
Jane Smiley
Jimmy Santiago Baca
1983-89
Joseph Langland (pictured)
Jorie Graham
Conger Beasley
Carolyn Forche
Tess Gallagher
Dan Jaffe
Charles Baxter
Linda Gregg
Madeline DeFrees
Donald Justice
James McKinley
James Tate
Padma Perera
Paul Zimmer
Richard Whodes
Kelly Cherry
Phillip Lopate
William Stafford
Gary Gilner
David Ray
Janet Kauffman
Judith Minty
Donald Finkel and Constance Urdang
Marvin Bell
Robley Wilson Jr.
Miller Williams
Andela Jackson
Diane Wakoski
John Knoepfle
Mona Van Duyn
Jim Barnes
G.S. Sharat Chandra