RELEASED: Nov. 7, 2002

DANVILLE, KY—The Centre College English program will present an evening of poetry titled "Two Southern Poets," featuring award-winning poets James Kimbrell and Maurice Manning. The event will take place Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. in the boardroom of the Norton Center for the Arts.

Kimbrell was born in Jackson, Miss., in 1967. He's a graduate of Millsaps College, the University of Southern Mississippi, the University of Virginia and the University of Missouri, Columbia. He's the author of a volume of poems, The Gatehouse Heaven (Sarabande, 1998). In this debut collection, Kimbrell revisits the mysterious landscapes of childhood and returns with poems that fathom meaning yet retain a sense of awe. The book's title section, a poignant 10-part poem, portrays a son's lifelong struggle to connect with a father made absent by mental and physical illness.

Kimbrell is also the co-translator of Three Poets of Modern Korea: Yi Sang, Hahm Dong-seon, and Choi Young-mi (Sarabande, 2002). He's the recipient of a Ruth Lilly Fellowship, a "Discovery" The Nation Award, Poetry magazine's Bess Hokin Award, a Whiting Writer's Award, a Ford Foundation Fellowship, and he has twice received the Academy of American Poets Prize. He currently teaches in the Creative Writing program at Florida State University.

Manning was born and raised in Danville, Ky., and has always stayed close to his home. His poetry reflects his feelings about the land and the culture that surrounds him.

Manning's first book, Lawrence Booth's Book of Visions, was selected by poet W.S. Merwin for the 2000 Yale Series of Younger Poets Award, the longest-running poetry prize in America. His second book, A Companion for Owls, written in the voice of Daniel Boone, will be published by Harcourt in 2003.

Manning holds degrees from Earlham College, the University of Kentucky and the University of Alabama. His poems have appeared in Hayden's Ferry Review, Shenandoah and The New Yorker. He teaches English and creative writing at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind.

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