National Book Award-Winning Poet to Speak at WT

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CANYON, Texas — The Dorothy Patterson Poetry Series at West Texas A&M University will feature award-winning poet Terrance Hayes in a public poetry reading in February.

Hayes will read his poetry at 7 p.m. Feb. 11 in the Sybil B. Harrington Fine Arts Complex Recital Hall. The event is free.

The Dorothy Patterson Poetry series—coordinated by the Department of English, Philosophy and Modern Languages in the Sybil B. Harrington College of Fine Arts and Humanities—is sponsored by Amarillo philanthropist Dorothy Patterson. 

“Terrance Hayes is one of the most influential poets writing today,” said organizer Dr. Brendan Stephens, assistant professor of English. “This event is a rare opportunity for students and the community to hear directly from a writer whose work is widely taught and discussed in literature courses across the nation, including WT.” 

Hayes’ seven published poetry collections include “So to Speak” (2023); “American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin” (2018), which won the Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry and was a finalist for the National Book Award; “How to Be Drawn” (2015), which was also a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award; and “Lighthead” (2010), which won the National Book Award.

His work has appeared in several editions of Best American Poetry and has earned multiple Pushcart Prizes. His other poetry collections include “Wind in a Box” (2006), “Hip Logic” (2002), which was declared a winner by the National Poetry Series, and “Muscular Music” (1999), which won the Kate Tufts Discovery Award.

Poems by Hayes have also appeared in magazines and literary reviews including The New Yorker, Poetry, The American Poetry Review, Ploughshares, Fence, The Kenyon Review, and Jubilat, as well as on “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.”

In addition to poetry, Hayes is the author of “Watch Your Language: Visual and Literary Reflections on a Century of American Poetry” (2023), which was named a finalist for the 2024 Pegasus Award for Criticism. Hayes also wrote “To Float in the Space Between: A Life and Work in Conversation with the Life and Work of Etheridge Knight “(2018), which won the 2019 Pegasus Award in Poetry Criticism.

Hayes received the MacArthur Foundation Genius Award in 2014. Hayes’ other honors include a Whiting Award and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. He has taught at Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Alabama and the University of Pittsburgh and is currently a professor of creative writing at New York University.

For more information, contact Stephens at bstephens@wtamu.edu.

WT serves the region by offering engagement with a variety of literary texts. Being a learner-centered university 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, which is now winding down, has raised more than $175 million.

About West Texas A&M University

A Regional Research University, West Texas A&M University is redefining excellence in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus, as well as the Harrington Academic Hall WTAMU Amarillo Center in downtown Amarillo. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT boasts an enrollment of more than 9,000 and offers 66 undergraduate degree programs, including eight associate degrees; and 44 graduate degrees, including an integrated bachelor’s and master’s degree, a specialist degree and two doctoral degrees. WT recently earned a Carnegie Foundation classification as a Research College and University. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 16 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

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