Dixie State University Poetry Reading

Dixie State University will host a special poetry reading by Utah’s first Poet Laureate, David Lee, on Thursday, April 10.

Mr. Lee’s visit is co-sponsored by DSU’s English department and the department’s Sigma Tau Delta Honor Society, along with the Dixie Forum series committee and the Utah Humanities Council. The award-winning poet will read from his brand new collection of poetry entitled Last Call.

Lee was named Utah’s first Poet Laureate in 1997, and served in that capacity until 2002, at which point he received a Commendation Award in the Utah House of Representatives. He has been honored with grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities and has received both the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Award in Poetry and the Western States Book Award in Poetry.

In 1999, Lee’s collection, News From Down to the Café, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, a testament to the wide national interest in his work. He has been chosen as one of Utah’s top twelve writers of all time by the Utah Endowment for the Humanities, and has been honored with the Utah Governor’s Award for lifetime achievement in the arts. In 2001, he was chosen as a finalist for United States Poet Laureate.