Poet-in-Residence Program

Stadler Center for Poetry

Since its initiation in 1981, the Poet-in-Residence program has brought writers of national and international renown to spend a semester at Bucknell University during the spring. The Poet-in-Residence teaches a poetry workshop as visiting faculty in the Department of English, gives a public reading and a lecture, and otherwise serves as an active presence on campus. The program is intended to honor the achievements of an accomplished poet, providing him or her with the opportunity to work with limited academic obligations.

Poets are chosen by invitation only; the Stadler Center does not accept applications for this position.

Poet-in-Residence, Spring 2010: Tim Seibles

Born in Philadelphia in 1955 to a high school English teacher and a biochemist for the Department of Agriculture, Tim Seibles' love for Greek and Roman mythology and dreams of writing science fiction novels were balanced by a driving ambition to become a professional football player. Drawn to Southern Methodist University for football, he found his way to poetry there as an undergraduate; then, after a decade in Dallas teaching high school English, he cashed in his pension and went on to take an MFA in creative writing at Vermont College. Seibles currently teaches at Old Dominion University in Virginia.

Seibles is the author of five books of poetry, most recently Buffalo Head Solos (Cleveland State, 2004). His first book, Body Moves (Corona Press), appeared in 1988, followed by Hurdy-Gurdy (Cleveland State, 1992), Kerosene (Ampersand Press, 1995), and Hammerlock (Cleveland State, 1999). Seibles's poems have appeared widely in journals such as Kenyon Review, New Letters, Red Brick Review, Dark Eros, Ploughshares and Black American Literary Forum, as well as in the anthologies Outsiders, Verse and Universe, In Search of Color Everywhere, A Way Out of No Way, and New American Poets in the 90's.

Seibles has been honored with many grants and awards, including an Open Voice Award and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center.

Tim Seibles will read from his poetry on Tuesday, January 26, at 7 p.m. in Bucknell Hall.  This event is free and open to the public.

Click here for an interview with Tim Seibles by Bucknell undergraduate Kirstin van der Gracht '12.

Former Poets-in-Residence

1981-82 Carolyn Kizer
1982-83 Maxine Kumin
1983-84 Hayden Carruth
1984-85 Karl Shapiro
1985-86 Mary Oliver
1986-87 Wendell Berry
1987-88 Madeline DeFrees
1988-89 Irving Feldman
1989-90 Jean Valentine
1990-91 Louis Simpson
1991-92 Colette Inez
1992-93 Molly Peacock
1993-94 Gerald Stern
1994-95 Bruce Smith
1995-96 William Matthews
1996-97 Afaa M. Weaver
1997-98 Tess Gallagher
1998-99 Peggy Shumaker
1999-00 Linda Gregg
2000-01 John Haines
2001-02 Betsy Sholl
2002-03 Sonia Sanchez
2003-04 Liliana Ursu
2004-05 Michael Waters
2005-06 Carol Frost
2006-07 Marilyn Chin
2007-08 James Harms
2008-09 Nance Van Winckel