@ your library Volume XXIV Number One
A NEWSLETTER OF
Friends of the Tulsa City•County Libraries
Winter 2016
2016 Distinguished Author is a poet!
by Wayne Hardy
T
he Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award, given annually by the Tulsa Library Trust to internationally acclaimed authors, consists of a $40,000 prize and an engraved crystal book. The names of former winners include such literary luminaries as William Manchester, Joyce Carol Oates, Eudora Welty and Norman Cousins. For the first time in the 30-year history of the award, a poet will be added to this remarkable list. The poet is Billy Collins, dubbed by the New Y ork Times as “the most popular poet in America.” As proof, his highly entertaining public readings are usually packed with fans and his books sell in unheard of numbers for poetry. He has performed on stage with musicians Paul Simon and Sir Paul McCartney, was featured on Garrison Keillor's radio programs A Prairie Home Companion and Writer's Almanac and heard on the PBS television animated series Martha Speaks. According to Alice Quinn, executive director of the Poetry Society of America, “He's like listening to wonderful jazz—and I mean classic jazz.” In 2001 Collins was named Poet Laureate of the United States. During that time, he read his poignant and powerful poem, The Names, at a special joint session of Congress commemorating the one-year anniversary of the World Trade Center tragedy. To encourage high school students to enjoy poetry he designed Poetry 180, a list of his favorite 180 poems by many different poets, one for each day of the school year. The poems are available even today at www.loc.gov/poetry/180.
2016 Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award December 2, 6:30 p.m. | Award Dinner $175 per person. For reservations call Diane Cariker at 918.549.7366.
INSIDE:
December 3, 10:30 a.m. | Free Public Presentation Central Library President’s letter: Central Grand Opening page 2
Billy Collins, recipient of the 2016 Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award. Photo credit: Suzannah Gilman
Collins has been called “the people's poet” for his conversational style combining wit with artistic observations and sometimes compared to Robert Frost for acclaim and popular appeal. Collins believes in getting poetry to the people. “I'm a great believer in poetry out of the classroom, in public spaces, on subways, on trains, on cocktail napkins.” Collins has received numerous honors, including Poetry magazine's Poet of the Year and was the inaugural recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for Humor in Poetry. He was chosen by the New York Public Library to serve as “Literary Lion.” He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation and the New York Foundation for the Arts. He is the co-founder of the Mid-Atlantic Review. His work has appeared in anthologies, textbooks and periodicals, including A merican Poetry Review, Paris Review and Harper's. Collins is the author of several books of poetry including A imless Love, The Art of Drowning and The Trouble with Poetry.
Friends support Staff Development Day page 3
Library celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month page 4
Great Decisions program kickoff page 6