Louisiana Poet Laureate John Warner Smith to present virtual reading March 10

NATCHITOCHES – Louisiana Poet Laureate John Warner Smith will present a virtual reading for Northwestern State University students, faculty and staff and the general public on Wednesday March 10, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The reading will be free and open to all, with the public encouraged to attend. The Microsoft Teams address to use is nsu.la/JWSEvent.

Smith will be introduced by Dr. Rebecca Macijeski and Dr. Andy Briseño. members of the NSU creative writing faculty, who will also act as moderators for the Q&A session following the reading.

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards named Smith the state’s poet laureate in 2019.

“John Warner Smith’s writing captures the human experience through meaningful, passionate poetry that moves your emotions. John is not only a talented and gifted poet, he is a trailblazer who devotes himself to education and the greater good of the community,” said Edwards.

Smith began writing poetry while building a successful career as a public administrator and a banker. Smith has published four collections of poetry: “Muhammad’s Mountain” (Lavender Ink Pres, 2018), “Spirits of the Gods” (ULL Press, 2017), “Soul Be A Witness” (MadHat Press, 2016), and “A Mandala of Hands” (Kelsay Books – Aldrich Press, 2015). His fifth collection, “Our Shut Eyes: New & Selected Poems on Race in America,” is forthcoming later this year from MadHat Press. Smith’s poems have appeared in Ploughshares, Callaloo, Antioch Review, North American Review, Quiddity, The McNeese Review, Kestrel, Bloodroot Literary Magazine, The Southern Review, and other literary journals. His poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and for the Best of Net Anthology.

For more information, contact Dr. Shane Rasmussen at rasmussens@nsula.edu or (318) 357-4332.

This program is funded under a grant from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.