Edward Hirsch to Speak on ‘A Passion for Poetry’
at Wellesley College Nov. 15

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Edward Hirsch will present “A Passion for Poetry: A Poetry Reading” Monday, Nov. 15, at 4:30 pm in Collins Cinema at Wellesley College.

Hirsch has published six books of poems and three prose books, including the national bestseller, How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry. He writes a weekly column on poetry for the Washington Post Book World and has received the Prix de Rome, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature, and a MacArthur Fellowship. He taught for 18 years at the University of Houston and is now the fourth president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

“I believe he has a unique voice in American poetry,” said writer and poet Marjorie Agosín, is a professor of Spanish at Wellesley, “a voice that conjures the possibility of looking at the visible as well as the invisible world, a poetry that is both sophisticated and accessible at the same time. I also think he has allowed so many readers to truly become passionate about reading poetry, becoming a lover of poetry, because he believes that poetry is a way of achieving inner knowledge and illuminating journeys.”

The event is sponsored by Wellesley’s Spanish Department, the Writing Program and the Davis Museum and Cultural Center. A reception will be held prior to the lecture at 4 pm in Collins Café . For more information, call 781-283-2576.

Since 1875, Wellesley College has been a leader in providing an excellent liberal-arts education for women who will make a difference in the world. Its 500-acre campus near Boston is home to 2,300 undergraduate students from all 50 states and 68 countries. For more information, go to www.wellesley.edu.

###