Wyatt Prunty, the Ogden P. Carlton Professor of Literature at Sewanee: The University of the South and founder and director of the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, will read from his latest collection of poems Couldn’t Prove, Had to Promise (Johns Hopkins, 2015) beginning at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25, at Barnes & Noble at Vanderbilt.
Prunty’s reading, which also will include works from his eight other collections, is part of the Lyrical Brew poetry series at Barnes & Noble hosted by poet Ciona Rouse. Lyrical Brew features poets who share their work in rounds, much like the music tradition in Nashville. Poet Nathan Spoon will join Prunty on stage Sept. 25.
Prunty has taught at the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars, Louisiana State University, Washington and Lee University and Sewanee. He is a recipient of Guggenheim, Rockefeller, Johns Hopkins and Brown Foundation fellowships. Editor of Sewanee Writers on Writing (LSU Press, 2000), he served as general editor of the Sewanee Writers’ Series and directs the Tennessee Williams Fellowship Program at Sewanee.
Spoon’s poems have appeared in Oxford Poetry, Reflections (the Yale Divinity School magazine), the award-winning anthology What Have You Lost? (edited by Naomi Shihab Nye) and limited edition chapbooks.
Parking for the Sept. 25 event is available in the 2525 West End Garage. For more information, contact cionarouse@gmail.com or call (615) 812-7197.