Retiring professor of English, David Graham, will read work April 13

David Graham, Ripon College professor of English and the Helen Swift Nielson Professor of Cultural Studies, will present a reading of his work at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 13.

The reading is being given on the occasion of his retirement and will be presented in Lane Library on the campus. It is free and open to the public.

Graham began teaching at Ripon College in 1987. Over the years at Ripon, he has served as chair of the English department, writing coordinator, faculty advisor to Parallax, and director of the Visiting Writers Series, among other duties.

In addition to teaching writing, he has taught courses in American and Caribbean literature, modern and contemporary poetry, and Poetry Aloud. He has published poems, essays and reviews in a wide variety of anthologies and journals, both in print and online; and given numerous presentations and readings in many states. His six books of poetry include Second Wind, Magic Shows and Stutter Monk. He also co-edited (with former Visiting Professor of English Kate Sontag) the essay anthology After Confession: Poetry as Confession.

He has served on the advisory board of Verse Wisconsin, on the Poets’ Prize selection committee; on the board of directors for the Thrasher Opera House; and on the Wisconsin Poet Laureate Commission. He has been poetry editor for Blue Moon Review and poet-in-residence at the Frost Place, in Franconia, New Hampshire. He lives in Ripon with his wife, Lee Shippey, and their dog, Kayak.

The reading is sponsored by the Ripon College Visiting Writers Series and the Schang Family Visiting Writer Fund.