BRAINERD — Romanian-American poet Maya C. Popa will appear as part of Verse Like Water, the visiting poet program of Central Lakes College.
Popa, whose original appearance was set for February before a snowstorm forced a postponement, will appear at noon Friday, April 14, in the Chalberg Theatre of the Brainerd campus. A book signing and craft talk will follow this free literary event.
Popa teaches poetry at New York University and celebrates the relationship between poetry and wonder in the human heart.
She is the author of Wound is the Origin of Wonder and American Faith, which was a recipient of the North American Book Prize and a runner-up in the Kathryn A. Morton Prize judged by Ocean Vuong. Popa is also the author of two chapbooks, both from the Diagram Chapbook Series: “You Always Wished the Animals Would Leave” and “The Bees Have Been Canceled.”
Popa is the poetry reviews editor at Publishers Weekly and teaches poetry at NYU. She is director of creative writing at the Nightingale-Bamford school, where she oversees visiting writers, workshops and readings. She earned degrees from Oxford University, NYU and Barnard College and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. on the role of wonder in poetry at Goldsmiths, University of London.
The event is funded and supported by the Five Wings Art Council, The Legacy Fund, the CLC Foundation and Minnesota Public Radio.
