How Not to Let a Poem Bully You: Reading Difficult Poems From the Gut

This talk by Bruce Beasley, the 2026 Ferrol Sams Jr. Distinguished Chair in English, will be an exploration of how to read poems through emotion, sensation, and association and how not to let even a “hard” poem intimidate you.

Bruce Beasley is the author of nine poetry collections and the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Artist Trust of Washington. Originally from Macon, he is Emeritus Professor of English at Western Washington University, where he received the university’s Peter J. Elich Excellence in Teaching Award. This semester at Mercer, he is teaching CRW 485, an advanced writing workshop on poetry and the work of dreams.