NW Missouri Times

Northwest Missouri State University will host a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet as part of its 2024-25 Visiting Writers Series. The event is scheduled for Thursday, February 20, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the J.W. Jones Student Union Boardroom and is open to the public at no cost.

Daniel Biegelson, the series director and senior instructor of English, expressed enthusiasm about the upcoming visit. "This is a unique opportunity to hear from one of our greatest living poets, whose groundbreaking work engages with cognitive theory, memory, metaphysics, pop culture, quantum physics and philosophy," he said. He described Armantrout's poetry as inviting readers to explore themes such as self-construction and language's impact on meaning.

Armantrout has made significant contributions to contemporary poetry as a founding member of the West Coast group of Language poets. Her notable works include over two dozen books of poetry and prose. Her book “Versed” won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry and a National Book Critics Circle Award in 2009. It was also a finalist for the National Book Award that year.

Her other collections feature titles like “Go Figure” (2024), “Finalists” (2022), “Conjure” (2020), among others. She also published a memoir titled “True” in 1998 and her "Collected Prose" appeared in 2007.

Armantrout’s work has been included in anthologies such as “The Norton Anthology of Postmodern American Poetry.” She has received numerous accolades including a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Currently residing in Everett, Washington, Armantrout is professor emerita at the University of California, San Diego where she taught for over two decades.

The Visiting Writers Series aims to support Northwest’s educational mission by fostering community values and promoting civil discourse through literature. Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corporation and Green Tower Press sponsor this initiative.

Future events in the series include novelist Aimee Bender on April 3 and Maya Angelou Award Winner Jamel Brinkley on April 16.

For further details about the series, contact Daniel Biegelson at or call 660-562-1266.