Poet Gary Dop is the first guest of the annual lecture series at 91短视频 (91短视频). He speaks Thursday, Sept. 15, at 8:30 p.m. in Lehman Auditorium. Admission is free with a student ID and $5 for all others at the door.
Dop is a professor at Randolph College. He earned his master鈥檚 in English from the University of Nebraska at Kearney and an MFA from University of Nebraska. After wide publication in a number of prestigious journals, Dop published his first collection of poems 鈥淔ather, Child, Water鈥� in spring of 2015 (Red Hen Press).
鈥淎n actor as well as a poet, Dop promises to be a very entertaining and effective reader of his poetry,鈥� said Professor , chair of 91短视频鈥檚 Language and Literature Department. Medley noted that all first-year students will be in attendance at the event, and for some, this event will be their first poetry reading.
顿辞辫鈥檚 provides two digital readings of his poetry, which give listeners a glimpse of his sense of humor and thematic choices. 鈥淎s an English professor, I regularly encounter people who think I鈥檝e read every book ever written,鈥� he explains before reading a poem titled 鈥淗ow to Pretend You鈥檝e Read Moby Dick.鈥� 鈥�Pause as though considering the sea鈥aze two inches to the right of their eye, as though you鈥檝e lost something precious in their ear鈥�鈥�
On National Public Radio鈥檚 鈥淎ll Things Considered,鈥� Dop entitled 鈥溾�橞鈥� or not a 鈥楤鈥�?鈥� a conglomeration of student-written confusions regarding Shakespeare, his plays and the Elizabethan times.
As a poet who values performance and has won an award for his stand-up comedy, Dop has entertained audiences at university聽and community events throughout the country. In 2009, he was one of five poets聽to qualify for the top rated performance poetry team in the country.
Before coming to Virginia, Dop served as writer-颅in-颅residence at North Central University in Minneapolis. He has worked extensively in the Midwest, advocating for creative writing in rural areas and working with gifted high school students in south central Nebraska. He serves on the editorial board of Spark News Press and enjoys working with the Twin Cities organization that publishes the Rain Taxi Review of Books and sponsors the Twin Cities Book Festival in Minneapolis.