William Stafford Statewide Celebration, May 15

Who was William Stafford?  He was born in Hutchinson, Kansas in 1914 and died at his home in Lake Oswego in 1993 at the age of 79.  Between 1960 and 1993, he wrote and published over 60 books, including 12 full-length books of poems.  He was an influential and beloved teacher of writing at Lewis and Clark College in Portland for 32 years.  Stafford was Oregon’s Poet Laureate from 1974-1989, Poetry Consultant to the Library of Congress during 1970-71, and won the National Book Award in 1962.  Stafford’s poetry is very accessible:  it tends to be short and deceptively simple.  His plain-spoken style brings readers into the poems right away, frequently taking unexpected turns and guiding the reader to poignant discoveries.  His poems are at once quiet, sly, serious, sometimes funny, and are always down-to-earth.  The celebration features Kim Stafford reading his father’s poetry and giving a talk about the poets life at the North Bend Public Library on Thursday, May 15 at 7 pm. There will be a book signing after his talk.  Kim Stafford is the founder of the North West Writing Institute at Lewis & Clark College, and is a widely acclaimed poet and essayist.  He is a winner of the Western States Book Award.  The celebration continues on May 21 at 7:00 pm, when Oregon Book Award-finalist Brian Doyle of Portland talks about William Stafford’s life and works at the OSU Extension Building at 631 Alder Street in Myrtle Point. Doyle is the editor of Portland Magazine, at the University of Portland.  He’s the author of 10 books of essays, including the popular novel Mink River.  His essays have appeared in the annual Best American Essays, the Best Science & Nature Writing, and the Best Spiritual Writing anthologies.