Oklahoma poetry legend Dorothy Alexander will hold a poetry reading at Del Mar College on Nov. 1.
Alexander, born in 1934 in the middle of the Great Depression to a family of farmers, has created six collections of her own poetry since 2002 including “The Dust Bowl Revisited” and “Rough Drafts.” Her poetry covers her childhood as an Okie dirt farmer’s daughter to a career as a lawyer and then judge.
She has curated regular poetry readings at Beans & Leaves Coffee House, Individual Artists of Oklahoma, Full Circle Books and other venues. Alexander finds inspiration for her poetry in the populist political movements during the 1890s through World War II.
Reference Librarian Alan Barecka and English Professor Sarah Kaplan team up to help make the poetry series possible.
“We look for good poets who are affordable and accessible,” Barecka said.
Barecka himself likes the narrative poetry style and his and Kaplan’s list of favorite poets does affect their choices for the series. The series was started to foster a community of writers through an open mic night and so that young writers would have a place to present their poetry.
The goal is to “foster an interest in poetry,” Barecka said.
For another dose of poetry, Gary Worth Moody, a poet from New Mexico who grew up in Taft, will be reading Oct. 18 at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.
The poetry series has been ongoing since 2004. It is open and free to the public. Alexander will read at 2 p.m. Nov. 1 in Room 514 of the White Library and has agreed to come back later that night for open mic at 7 p.m.
