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Featured Poets |
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William Stafford
Author of over sixty-five volumes of poetry and prose, including the National Book Award winning Travelling Through the Dark, William Stafford was born in Hutchinson, Kansas, and received his M.A. at the University of Kansas. |
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Langston Hughes
Raised by his grandmother in Lawrence, Kansas, Langston Hughes is one of America's most celebrated poets. In 1975, a statue of Hughes was unveiled at the Watkins Community Museum of History. |
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James Tate
Author of numerous books of poetry, Tate's Worshipful Company of Fletchers won the National Book Award, and his Selected Poems won the Pulitzer Prize and the William Carlos Williams Award. He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and spent his youth in the Midwest, eventually receiving his B.A. from Kansas State College-Pittsburg in 1965. |
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Other Kansas Poets
Gwendolyn Brooks
Frank Marshall Davis
Elizabeth Dodd
Harley
Elliott
B. H. Fairchild
Amy Fleury
Albert Goldbarth
Jonathan Holden
Denise Low
Wyatt Townley
Patricia Traxler
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Writing programs & colonies |
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Emporia State University
ESU offers a Creative Writing minor in poetry. Outlets for student work include Quivira (the state's oldest campus literary magazine) and the Quivira literary club, which sponsors readings, dramatic productions, and other events.
Haskell Indian Nations University
The English department publishes a literary journal, Perspectives, an anthology of students' creative writing. Other highlights of the program include The Wordcraft Writers Circle, an organization for Native students that pairs beginning writers with mentors; National Poetry Week; the Native Writers' Poetry and Essay Contest; and the Langston Hughes Contest.
Kansas State University
KSU offers an undergraduate major and minor, as well as an M.A., in creative writing. The Creative Writing track also sponsors the Visiting Writers Program, which each year brings nationally and internationally known writers to the campus.
Pittsburg State University
Pittsburg State University offers a B.A. in English with an Emphasis in Creative Writing, a creative writing minor, and an M.A. in English with an Emphasis in Creative Writing. They publish a student literary journal, The Cow Creek Review, and they sponsor an impressive reading program that has recently featured poets Ted Kooser and Alice Fulton. James Tate is a notable alum.
University of Kansas
KU offers an undergraduate major, as well as an M.A., in creative writing. They also have a program called The Writer's Roost, which offers a place for productive talk about writing, including writing consultations.
Wichita State University
Unlike some M.F.A. degree programs in creative writing, the WSU program "is not conceived as a studio program. Instead, it encourages the development of fine writers who are also able, as a result of additional course work in English, to demonstrate skills useful in teaching, editing, and other areas related to creative writing." |
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At this height, Kansas
is just a concept,
a checkerboard design of wheat and corn
no larger than the foldout section
of my neighbor's travel magazine.
From Reading Moby-Dick at 30,000 Feet
by Tony Hoagland |
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Poetic History |
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Langston Hughes's hometown: Lawrence, KS
In the reverse of the classic tale of a poet influenced by his surroundings, in this case it was the town that is influenced by the poet. The short time that Hughes spent in Lawrence has profoundly touched the town and continues to be celebrated in many ways. |
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Visitors from Kansas Enjoy ... |
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Most Popular Poems
1. Do not go gentle into that good night
by Dylan Thomas
Do not go gentle into that good night...
2. The Negro Speaks of Rivers
by Langston Hughes
I've known rivers...
3. We Real Cool
by Gwendolyn Brooks
We real cool. We...
4. The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood...
5. I, Too, Sing America
by Langston Hughes
I, too, sing America...
6. Sick
by Shel Silverstein
"I cannot go to school today"...
7. What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why (Sonnet XLIII)
by Edna St. Vincent Millay
What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why...
8. The Bells
by Edgar Allan Poe
Hear the sledges with the bells...
9. This Is Just To Say
by William Carlos Williams
I have eaten / the plums...
10. Poetry
by Marianne Moore
I, too, dislike it: there are things that are important beyond...
(Popularity based on Poets.org traffic data.) |
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Poems about Kansas |
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Outside Abilene
by Harley Elliot
the full range of kansas...
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Literary organizations & centers |
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Kansas Arts Commission
The Kansas Arts Commission was established in 1966 by the Kansas Legislature and is charged by its enabling legislation to increase the support, awareness and outreach of the arts in communities across the state.
Lawrence Arts Center
Sponsors an open poetry contest for all residents of Lawrence. Contact the Center at 940 New Hampshire St, Lawrence, (785) 843-2787.
Kansas Poets
This online resource features a growing list of distinguished Kansas poets, their bios, and examples of their work. The site also provides extensive information on Kansas poet laureate projects and other poetry material related to Kansas. |
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Literary journals & small presses |
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Flint Hills Review
Flint Hills Review is an annual literary and arts journal published by Emporia State University and circulated nationally. They publish work with a particular interest in region, including regions of place, regions of ethnicity, regions of gender, and regions of memory.
The Midwest Quarterly
A journal of poetry, book reviews, and contemporary thought from Pittsburg State University.
Potpourri
Publishes as many as 50 new poems each quarter from emerging and established writers. |
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Acknowledgements |
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Special thanks to Bob Burtch of the Kansas Art Commission for assistance in compiling this information. |
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