Samuel Hazo, founder and director of the International Poetry Forum in Pittsburgh, is coming to the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh–Main to discuss how politics, historical speeches and public discourse coincide with the world of poetry. The author of many books of poetry, fiction, essays and plays, Hazo is also a McAnulty Distinguished Professor of English Emeritus at Duquesne University, where he taught for forty-three years. A National Book Award finalist, he was chosen as the first State Poet of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by Governor Robert Casey in 1993, where he served until 2003.
An accomplished poet, playwright, translator and essayist, Dr. Hazo has been the recipient of many awards and honors, including the Maurice English Award for poetry for his volume, Just Once: New and Previous Poems.
It is fitting that Dr. Hazo will be delivering his talk on April 7th in the beautiful International Poetry room on the second floor of the library, fitting because he founded the core collection of work by poets from all over the world which now fills an entire room.
It is a privilege and an honor to have him return in what is something of a homecoming, a homecoming for someone who, in fact, has never truly been away. Come hear Dr. Hazo talk of poetry and public speech, the places where they converge, and those where they are forever apart.
– Don
Eleventh Stack 