Lee University will host an introduction to its annual spring Writer’s Festival with a reading by poet and Renaissance scholar Brett Foster, associate professor of English at Wheaton College. Dr. Foster will speak the following day during Lee’s 10th annual Sigma Tau Delta Literary Symposium.
Dr. Foster will read from his first book of poetry, The Garbage Eater, on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Edna Minor Conn Theatre. Dr. Foster, who teaches creative writing and Renaissance literature at Wheaton College, will sign copies of his book following the reading.
The Garbage Eater was published in 2011 (Triquarterly Books/Northwestern University Press) and was featured in Poets & Writers and on Poetry Daily. A second collection, Fall Run Road, was awarded Finishing Line Press's 2011 chapbook prize and will be published later this year. Dr. Foster’s literary works have appeared in numerous journals including The Georgia Review, Harvard Review, IMAGE, Kenyon Review, Measure, and Spoon River Poetry Review.
“We’re thrilled to have Brett Foster come and speak in a variety of venues,” said Lee’s Professor of English Dr. Kevin Brown. “He is both a critical and a creative writer, and his Christian faith informs both of those endeavors. He will be yet another role model for our students.”
Lee’s chapter of the international English honor society, Sigma Tau Delta, will present its 10th annual Literary Symposium at 9 a.m. on Saturday in the Humanities Center. Students from Lee and five other Tennessee colleges and universities will present their critical and creative works.
“We are very excited to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our symposium with our first-ever plenary speaker, Brett Foster, an experienced poet and critical scholar,” said Lee’s Assistant Professor of English Dr. Chad Schrock. “We are also pleased to welcome presenters and attendees from various schools in the state.”
As a Renaissance scholar, Dr. Foster’s articles and reviews on Marlowe, Shakespeare, Milton, and other authors have appeared in essay collections and in journals including the Journal of British Studies, Literary Imagination, Religion & Literature, Renaissance Quarterly, and Shakespeare Bulletin. He is currently working on a study of English writings on Renaissance Rome, and a collection and commentary of Renaissance love poetry.
Dr. Foster’s poetry reading is free and the public is welcome and encouraged to attend. Registration for Lee’s Literary Symposium is $7 which includes breakfast and lunch.
The Edna Minor Conn Theatre is located on the third floor of the Vest Building. The Humanities Center is located on 1250 Parker St NE.
For more information about the symposium, please contact Dr. Schrock at cschrock@leeuniversity.edu.