VCU to remember Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and English professor Claudia Emerson

By Brian McNeill

Virginia Commonwealth University will remember the late Claudia Emerson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and VCU professor, who died in December.

Students, colleagues and alumni will gather at the Grace Street Theater at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 23, to read from Emerson's poems and offer brief reminiscences.

Emerson, a creative writing professor in the Department of English of the College of Humanities and Sciences, died of cancer on Dec. 4. She was among the most critically acclaimed poets in the country.

Emerson was the author of five collections of poetry, all published by Louisiana State University Press as part of their Southern Messenger Poets Series: "Secure the Shadow" (2012); "Figure Studies" (2008); "Late Wife" (2005), which won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry; "Pinion: An Elegy" (2002); and "Pharaoh, Pharaoh" (1997). Her collection "The Opposite House" is slated to be published this spring, followed by "Impossible Bottle" in the fall.

"Those of us in the English department who knew and worked with Claudia felt that VCU needed to offer her a special tribute," said David Wojahn, a poet and professor of creative writing. "Although she hadn't been a member of our faculty for long, she had for many years been known and loved in the Virginia and the national literary communities. Prior to coming here as a full-time member of the faculty, she had twice been a visitor in our department, and during her years of teaching at Mary Washington she sent us a number of very talented graduate students."

Most importantly, she was one of the finest American poets of her generation, and a teacher of legendary dedication.

"Most importantly, she was one of the finest American poets of her generation, and a teacher of legendary dedication," he added.

The tribute at Grace Street Theater will honor Emerson's poetry, as well as the example she set as a teacher and a person, Wojahn said.

"She was an immensely gifted and generous teacher and a great friend to many of us in the community. Claudia had a brilliant intellect but she was also completely down-to-earth, had a wicked sense of humor, and she was as charismatic as she was humble," he said. "The event we've planned is a simple one. For a little over an hour, several of Claudia's graduate students, colleagues and literary friends will each read one of Claudia's poems, and offer some brief reminiscences. We don't want this to be a solemn event; it's meant to celebrate the endurance of Claudia's work and commemorate her remarkable life."

To find out more about Emerson's life, go to: http://news.vcu.edu/article/Claudia_Emerson_Pulitzer_Prizewinning_poet_and_VCU_English_professor