Mennonite Poetry Festival celebrates new and first books at March 26 event

Event: Mennonite Poetry Festival of New Books and First Books
Date and time: Sunday, March 26, 6-9 p.m.
Location: New World Center for the Arts, Downtown Goshen
Cost: $2 at the door
For more information: contact Ann Hostetler by calling (574) 535-7469 or e-mailing anneh@goshen.edu
Event sponsor: Goshen College English Department
Web site: www.newworldarts.org

GOSHEN, Ind. – Celebrate the creative spirit of poetry at a festival featuring five Mennonite poets on March 26 from 6 to 9 p.m.

The New Book/First Book Poetry Festival, sponsored by the Goshen College English Department, will be held at the New World Center for the Arts in downtown Goshen. The five poets include Goshen College alumni Jeff Gundy and Shari Wagner, along with Cheryl Denise, Keith Ratzlaff and Joanne Lehman.

Ann Hostetler, professor of English at Goshen College and coordinator of the event, said, “This is a unique opportunity to hear the voices of five exciting poets up close and personal in one of Goshen’s premiere artistic venues.”

Gundy and Ratzlaff are well-known authors to those familiar with Mennonite poetry. Gundy, the recipient of Word Tech Communications’ 2003 Editions Prize for his new book, “Deerflies” (Wordtech Communications, 2004), is a professor of English at Bluffton (Ohio) University. Gundy employs a light touch in writing about deep topics. Ratzlaff’s “Dubious Angels: Poems After Paul Klee” (Anhinga Press, 2005) is volume inspired by the art of Paul Klee, whose paintings are reproduced in this illustrated collection. A professor of English at Central College in Pella, Iowa, Ratzlaff won the Anhinga Prize for an earlier collection titled “Man Under a Pear Tree.”

Both Shari Wagner and Cheryl Denise have just published their first books of poetry with Cascadia Publishing Company in its new poetry series. Wagner’s book, “Evening Chore” (Dreamseeker Books, 2005), celebrates family, memory and the sacredness of place. Wagner is a recipient of several grants from the Indiana Arts Council. Denise’s book, “I Saw God Dancing” (Dreamseeker Books, 2005) offers poems with a frank and humorous perspective based on her Canadian Mennonite roots and her commitment to community and rural life in her current West Virginia home. Gundy describes Denise’s poetic voice as “likely, generous, just slightly impudent.” The third writer in the Cascadia poetry series, Dallas Wiebe, will be honored for his book, titled “On the Cross,” although he will not be able to be present.

Lehman is the recipient of the Kent State University Press Chapbook prize – an award given annually to a single poet – with her first poetry chapbook, “Morning Song” (Kent State University Press, 2005), and is also the author of the novel “Kairos” (Herald Press, 2005). Originally from Apple Creek, Ohio, where her closest writing friend is Amish writer David Kline, Lehman has taught at the Wayne Center for the Arts and Malone College in Canton, Ohio.

The New Book/First Book Poetry Festival welcomes poetry fans and writers and will include time to talk with the authors. These six new books, along with various other Mennonite literatures will be available for purchase. The poetry festival will also feature the release of the second annual issues of Goshen College’s Creative Arts magazine and Red Cents along with readings by several Goshen College students.

Entrance to the festival costs $2, which includes refreshments. For more information, contact Ann Hostetler by calling (574) 535-7469 or e-mailing anneh@goshen.edu.

– By Sheldon Good

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.