Distinguished Poet Coming to USC Aiken for Oswald Writer's Series

Aiken, SC (01/22/2019) — University of South Carolina Aiken's 2018-2019 Oswald Distinguished Writer's Series features poet Ken Hada, Tuesday, Feb. 12, at 7:30 p.m., in the Etherredge Center. The event is free and open to the public.

Media representatives interested in covering the event are asked to e-mail: news@usca.edu.

"This marks his second visit to our campus, and we are pleased to welcome Ken back to Aiken," said Dr. Drew Geyer, chair of the USC Aiken English Department.

"Hada's poetry blends nature writing, ecocriticism, and a chronicling of the day-to-day existence of blue-collar Americans living on the land.

"Both beautiful and accessible, his poems resonate with lush natural imagery and the sharp-edged details of the often brutal struggle of rural people to make ends meet."

Hada is a professor at East Central University in Ada, Okla., where he directs the annual Scissortail Creative Writing Festival.

He has published six books, including his two latest: Bring an Extry Mule and Persimmon Sunday (Purple Flag Press, 2017 & 2015). He recently received the SCMLA Prize for Poetry. Hada also received the 2011 Wrangler Award from the National Western Heritage Museum and Cowboy Hall of Fame. A 2015 finalist for the Spur Award, and a three-time finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award, his poetry has been featured four times on the NPR program The Writer's Almanac.

More information is available at www.kenhada.org .

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