‘Expecting Songbirds’
Poet, novelist Joe Benevento to present public reading April 18
Poet, novelist Joe Benevento
A poet and novelist whose works have appeared in nearly 300 publications will visit Monmouth College to present a reading and talk to students in two English classes.
Joe Benevento will read from his recent “Expecting Songbirds: Selected Poems 1983-2015,” as well as from his fiction, at 6:30 p.m. April 18 in the Mellinger Center. The event is free and open to the public.
Benevento is the author of three novels, two full-length poetry volumes, two poetry chapbook and a book of short stories. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including Poets & Writers, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Wisconsin Review, The Cape Rock, Inkwell, South Dakota Review, RE: Arts & Letters, The Potomac and U.S. Catholic. Benevento has been nominated numerous times for the Pushcart Prize and other awards.
Assistant professor of English David Wright, who studied with Benevento at Truman State University, describes the writer’s work as “accessible, smart, wry and gritty.”
“Joe combines a love for his native Queens, N.Y., in all its multi-racial and ethnic diversity, with his lifetime of teaching and writing in the small-town Midwest,” Wright said.
In addition to being an accomplished writer, Benevento is also a literary scholar, with expertise in the poetry of Walt Whitman as well as Latin American fiction, including the work of Jorge Luis Borges.
“He’s a great example of how serious literary scholarship can combine with and feed the work of writing fiction and poetry,” said Wright. “That’s a really wonderful model for our own liberal arts students and English majors.”
Benevento has been a professor of creative writing and American literature at Truman State since 1983, where he has also served as director of graduate studies, director of composition and, for 18 years, co-editor of the Green Hills Literary Lantern.
More about Benevento and his work can be found at www.authorjoebenevento.com.
Joe Benevento will read from his recent “Expecting Songbirds: Selected Poems 1983-2015,” as well as from his fiction, at 6:30 p.m. April 18 in the Mellinger Center. The event is free and open to the public.
Benevento is the author of three novels, two full-length poetry volumes, two poetry chapbook and a book of short stories. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including Poets & Writers, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Wisconsin Review, The Cape Rock, Inkwell, South Dakota Review, RE: Arts & Letters, The Potomac and U.S. Catholic. Benevento has been nominated numerous times for the Pushcart Prize and other awards.
Assistant professor of English David Wright, who studied with Benevento at Truman State University, describes the writer’s work as “accessible, smart, wry and gritty.”
“Joe combines a love for his native Queens, N.Y., in all its multi-racial and ethnic diversity, with his lifetime of teaching and writing in the small-town Midwest,” Wright said.
In addition to being an accomplished writer, Benevento is also a literary scholar, with expertise in the poetry of Walt Whitman as well as Latin American fiction, including the work of Jorge Luis Borges.
“He’s a great example of how serious literary scholarship can combine with and feed the work of writing fiction and poetry,” said Wright. “That’s a really wonderful model for our own liberal arts students and English majors.”
Benevento has been a professor of creative writing and American literature at Truman State since 1983, where he has also served as director of graduate studies, director of composition and, for 18 years, co-editor of the Green Hills Literary Lantern.
More about Benevento and his work can be found at www.authorjoebenevento.com.
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