 The theme for the Charter Day celebration is "Lincoln and Poetics."
Abraham Lincoln was a great lover of poetry, wrote poetry and
displayed a poetic style in some of his greatest speeches. Formal
presentations will be made by Kevin Stein, the poet laureate for the
state of Illinois, and by noted author, playwright and biographer
Daniel Mark Epstein.Charter Day is an opportunity to come
together and celebrate shared Lincoln College experiences, so the
event is open to alumni, faculty, staff and students. However,
seating will be limited. Anyone seeking additional information
should contact the Office of Alumni Relations and Special Events at
800-569-0556.
Lincoln College, the only college or university named for Abraham
Lincoln during his lifetime, was established in 1865, when it became
one of the pioneer educational institutions in the Midwest. Founders
investigated several sites for a college, and in December 1864 they
picked the town of Lincoln as the location for a new institution of
higher learning. The college was officially chartered by the
Illinois General Assembly on Feb. 6, 1865. The college marks the
historic event every five years with a Charter Day celebration on or
around Feb. 12 -- Abraham Lincoln's birthday.
More about Kevin Stein:
In December 2003, the governor of Illinois named Kevin Stein the
Illinois poet laureate, filling the position previously held by
Howard Austin, Carl Sandburg and Gwendolyn Brooks. This accolade is
one of many Stein has earned during his career as poet, critic,
editor and teacher.
Stein is author of seven poetry collections, three scholarly
books, two poetry anthologies, and numerous poems and essays
published in journals as well as anthologies.
His work has received acclaim from reviewers, including recent
pieces by Julia Keller in the Chicago Tribune and Mark Eleveld in
the Chicago Sun-Times. His newest collection, "Sufficiency of the
Actual," was published in January 2009 by the University of Illinois
Press.
Stein's first poetry volume, "A Circus of Want," earned the
Devins Award for Poetry. His poetry has been honored with the
Frederick Bock Prize awarded by Poetry, the 1998 Indiana Review
Poetry Prize, and four Illinois Arts Council Literary Awards -- the
most recent awarded in 2007 for his poem "Middle-aged Adam's and
Eve's Bedside Tables."
Stein has been the recipient of the National Endowment for the
Arts Poetry Fellowship and three such fellowships granted by the
Illinois Arts Council, as well as grant support from the National
Endowment for the Humanities. In 2004, he was awarded the Vernon
Louis Parrington Medal for Distinguished Writing.
His poems and essays have appeared widely in journals such as
American Poetry Review, Boulevard, Colorado Review, The Kenyon
Review, Poetry, Southern Review and TriQuarterly.
In addition to poetry, Stein has written several scholarly works,
including his forthcoming book of essays, "Poetry's Afterlife: Verse
in the Digital Age," due in May 2010.
(http://poetlaureate.il.gov/
)
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More about Daniel Mark Epstein:
Epstein is a biographer, poet and dramatist whose work has been
widely published and performed.
In the 1970s his poetry first appeared in The New Yorker, The
Atlantic Monthly and The New Republic. His first volume of poems was
published in 1973. His plays appeared soon thereafter in regional
theater and off-Broadway, and in 1978 he received the Prix de Rome
for his poetry and dramatic works.
In the 1980s he wrote his first biography, "Sister Aimee: The
Life of Aimee Semple McPherson," now in its fourth printing. His
biography "Nat King Cole" was a 1999 New York Times Notable Book,
reviewed on the cover of the NYT Book Review, and his biography of
Edna St. Vincent Millay was a New York Public Library "Books to
Remember" honoree for 2001. "The Lincolns: Portrait of a Marriage,"
was named one of the "Best Books of 2008" by both The Wall Street
Journal and Chicago Sun-Times.
His honors include a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship
in 1974, a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1984 and an Academy Award for
Lifetime Achievement from the American Academy of Arts and Letters
in 2006.
(http://www.danielmarkepstein.com/
)
[Text from file received from
Lincoln College]
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