ELYSE GRIECO
Life & Arts Editor
The Mary Louise White Visiting Writers Series welcomes visiting poet and alumna Michelle Whittaker to campus from April 9-10.
Whittaker, who graduated in 2001, is a West Indian-American writer, poet, teacher and pianist.
Her passion for writing started at a young age — thanks to her supportive English teachers throughout middle and high school.
“They shared many stories and aphorisms about life, while introducing me to literary canon, such as Shakespeare,” said Whittaker. “I was also introduced to a lot of 20th-century poets like Szymborska, Simic, Clifton, Octavio Paz to name a few contemporaneous poets.”
Throughout college, Whittaker pursued her passion for writing.
She even published her first poem in The Leader.
After earning an undergraduate degree from Fredonia, Whittaker completed her master’s degree in creative writing and literature at Stony Brook University.
Today, she works as a professor in the writing and rhetoric program at Stony Brook.
Whittaker’s style of poetry is one of a kind. She even had a hard time trying to define it.
“I think poetry friends might describe me as a lyrical poet. I prefer to take risk in exploring form and content,” said Whittaker. “I do tend to allow the sound of language to heavily inform the meaning of my work. I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a sound poet, although people may refer to me as such.”
In 2017, Whittaker published her first book, “Surge.”
The book features a collection of original poems, including some written by Whittaker from her days at Fredonia.
“‘Surge’ was a slow conjuring,” she said. “After I received my graduate degree at Stony Brook, I took three years to rebuild a new manuscript. It took several years to finally publish.”
During this time, Whittaker attended several conferences and workshops to revise poems that she felt needed time before being published.
“Surge has essentially been a vehicle for my personal process of healing from certain haunting events and relationships. It is what I have to offer as a testament to understanding and overcoming the overwhelming feelings of loss, abuse and survival,” she said.
Her poem from the collection “After 30 Hospitals in 2 Hours” was selected and published in The New York Times Magazine in 2017.
The poem was selected by writer and poet Terrance Hayes who praised Whittaker’s launch.
“Even as her language loops into lullabies, swells and spells, it casts a blue and uneasy shadow,” said Hayes. “Even when she meditates on art or mortality, she dazzles with a turn of phrase and explosive imagery. Even when adrift on the music and mystery of dreams, ‘Surge’ is fueled by feeling. Warmth and compassion power this amazing debut.”
Whittaker hosted a craft talk on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. in McEwen Hall, room 209.
She will also be giving a live reading of some of the selected poems from her book on Wednesday.
She plans to talk about her poems, the sonic qualities in some of her favorites from other writers and give advice to Fredonia students following the same path she was.
Whittaker’s reading on Wednesday will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. in McEwen Hall room 209.
For more information on Whittaker and “Surge” please visit her website, www.michellewhittakerpoet.com.