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WT’s Texas Poets’ Corner to Host Award-Winning Slam Poet
Copy by Emily Kinsky / Contact: Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu
CANYON, Texas—Caleb Rainey, a spoken-word poet, will headline the Texas Poets’ Corner annual fall event at West Texas A&M University.
The event will begin at 6 p.m. Oct. 12 in the Poets’ Garden on the east side of Cornette Library on WT’s Canyon campus.
“Spoken word poetry is performance poetry,” said Dr. Patricia Tyrer, who coordinated Rainey’s visit to campus. Tyrer is the Jenny Lind Porter Professor of English and professor in WT’s Department of English, Philosophy, and Modern Languages in the Sybil B. Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities.
“It’s poetry that doesn’t just exist on the page but rather exists to be heard out loud and witnessed in person,” Tyrer continued.
This event is free and open to the public and will include a reception.
Rainey, co-founder of the literary magazine “Black Art: Real Stories,” is an award-winning poet and performer from Columbia, Missouri.
His books of poetry include “Look, Black Boy” and “Heart Notes.” Rainey released two spoken-word albums: a studio recording of “Look, Black Boy,” and a performance album, “Heart Notes Live!”
His work has been featured on Iowa Public Radio, and, in addition to performing, he has helped produce Mic Check Poetry Fest in Iowa City, Iowa.
Fostering an appreciation of the arts is a key principle of the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.
That plan is fueled by the historic One West comprehensive fundraising campaign, which reached its initial $125 million goal 18 months after publicly launching in September 2021. The campaign’s new goal is to reach $175 million by 2025; currently, it has raised more than $150 million.
About the Texas Poets’ Corner
The Texas Poets’ Corner, which is located on the second floor of the Cornette Library, began with gifts from Jenny Lind Porter and her husband, Lawrence E. Scott. Porter, a former WT professor, was the Texas Poet Laureate in 1964 and 1965. She wanted to create a space complete with books, art, and furnishings on the WT campus for WT students in the same vein as the American Poets’ Corner in New York City.
About West Texas A&M University
WT is located in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT, a Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, boasts an enrollment of about 10,000 and offers 59 undergraduate degree programs and more than 40 graduate degrees, including two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest’s finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offer 14 men’s and women’s athletics programs.
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