Former U.S. poet laureate to be honored at UNH

The University of New Hampshire will honor former U.S. Poet Laureate Donald Hall on Thursday, Nov. 9, from 4-6 p.m. with a reading and reception in the Courtyard Reading Room on the fifth floor of the Dimond Library.

Author of numerous books of poetry and prose, Hall is a longtime resident of New Hampshire. He graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy, Harvard University and the University of Oxford and taught at the University of Michigan. He received two Guggenheim Fellowships and served as New Hampshire poet laureate from 1984-89 and 1995-99 before being named the 2006-07 U.S. poet laureate.

Former Monitor editor Mike Pride and poet Wesley McNair will discuss Hall’s life and work, and Hall will read from his poetry collections. A book signing will follow, and Hall’s books will be available for purchase.

Milne Special Collections and Archives will be open prior to the reading so attendees may view a display of Hall’s published poetry and nonfiction. Special Collections and Archives houses the Donald A. Hall Collection, containing his correspondence, manuscripts, photographs and ephemera, along with his library of 7,000 volumes of modern poetry. It also maintains and makes available for research more than 18,000 linear feet of rare books, manuscripts, photographs, sound recordings and other materials related to the university and the Granite State.

The event is free and open to the public, but advanced registration is required.