Contact: Jeffrey Miller
(605-274-5431; miller@augie.edu )
Department of English and Journalism
Augustana College
www.augie.edu

March 31, 2004

Award-Winning Poet to Speak at Augustana

SIOUX FALLS, SD, March 15, 2004 - Award-winning poet, essayist and short story writer John Rezmerski will present a reading of his work at 7 p.m. Monday, April 5, in the Chapel of Reconciliation at Augustana College in Sioux Falls.

Rezmerski, emeritus writer-in-residence at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN, is the author of seven books of poetry, as well as numerous short stories and essays. He received the Devins Award for his first collection, Held for Questioning (University of Missouri Press, 1969). His most recent collection, What Do I Know? (Holy Cow! Press, 2000) brings together selected poems from earlier books with a number of new poems. Rezmerski's poetry has been published in periodicals ranging from South Dakota Review to The Wall Street Journal to Mennonite Life. He is currently working on a book about ravens.

In addition to his own written work, Rezmerski is the editor of The Frederick Manfred Reader (Holy Cow! Press, 1996), for which he did much of his research at Augustana's Center for Western Studies. He has also been involved in numerous projects dedicated to bringing poetry to non-traditional audiences, including Minnesota Poetry Outloud and Minnesota Poetry in the Schools.

Poet Carol Bly calls Rezmerski's work "spacious, smart, and friendly. He picks up on what's lyrical in us, without denying our stumblebum longings." Nebraska poet laureate William Kloefkorn says, "Rezmerski's freshness delights and surprises the reader into thought."

John Rezmerski's reading at Augustana is free and open to the public. Funding has been provided by the Mellon Foundation and the South Dakota Humanities Council.