Award-winning poet Taylor Mali will give a public reading of his work at 7 p.m. Monday, April 20 in the Kemper Recital Hall inside Spratt Hall on the campus of ΄σΟσ΄«Γ½. βThe Mochila Review Presents: In the Shadow of Taylor Maliβ is free and open to the public. Mali will sign copies of his books during a reception following the reading.
Mali is one of the best-known poets to have emerged from the poetry slam movement and one of the original poets to appear on the HBO series βDef Poetry Jam.β A four-time National Poetry Slam Champion, he is the author of two collections of poetry and a book of essays, the highly regarded “What Teachers Make: In Praise of the Greatest Job in the World.” In 2012, Mali completed a 12-year project of convincing 1,000 people to become teachers and marked the occasion by donating 12 inches of his hair to the American Cancer Society.
Copies of the Spring 2015 issue of The Mochila Review, ΄σΟσ΄«Γ½ Westernβs national undergraduate literary journal, will also be available at the event. The issue features an interview and poem by Mali, who served as guest judge for the Reviewβs annual contest for undergraduate writers. Out of more than 60 applicants, he selected the winning poem, β[My grandmother says Iβm cold],β by University of Alaska-Fairbanks student Eran E. Eads.
βWeβre thrilled that we can not only involve such a high-profile, prestigious author in our journal, but also bring him to ΄σΟσ΄«Γ½ Western,β said Dr. Marianne Kunkel, editor of The Mochila Review. βThat weβre able to give our students the opportunity to meet Mali in person is the direct result of the generosity of the ΄σΟσ΄«Γ½ Humanities Council and a testimony to the supportive environment at MWSU.β
The ΄σΟσ΄«Γ½ Humanities Council awarded a grant of $2,500 to ΄σΟσ΄«Γ½ Western in support of βThe Mochila Review Presents: In the Shadow of Taylor Mali.β The MHC is the only state-wide agency in ΄σΟσ΄«Γ½ devoted exclusively to humanities education for citizens of all ages. It has served as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities since 1971. Maliβs appearance is also made possible through support from ΄σΟσ΄«Γ½ Westernβs College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and its Department of English and Modern Languages.
To learn more about Mali, visit . For more information about The Mochila Review, visit . For more information about the grants program of the ΄σΟσ΄«Γ½ Humanities Council, visit .
΄σΟσ΄«Γ½ is a comprehensive regional university providing a blend of traditional liberal arts and professional degree programs. The university offers student-centered, high quality instruction that focuses on experience-based learning, community service, and state-of-the-art technology. ΄σΟσ΄«Γ½ Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit .