A prominent writer whose work was featured on NPR鈥檚 鈥淎 Prairie Home Companion鈥� will be the next guest for 蜜桃影像AV鈥檚 long-running annual poetry series.
蜜桃影像AV鈥檚 Jeanne Hoffman Smith Center for Film and Literature is hosting an evening of readings and conversation Nov. 4 with award-winning poet , one of the most distinguished and popular poets writing today. There will be a reading and discussion on the craft of poetry at 10 a.m., an open mic reading at 6:30 p.m., and a reading and book signing at 7:30 p.m., all in the Meinders School of Business at NW 27th Street and McKinley Avenue. The events are free to the public.
Bilgere鈥檚 accessibility and wit have brought him widespread national recognition, starting in 2002 when then-U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins selected Bilgere鈥檚 collection, 鈥淭he Good Kiss,鈥� for the prestigious University of Akron Poetry Prize. Collins further honored Bilgere by naming him one of two Witter Bynner Fellows that year and inviting him to read at the Library of Congress.
In 2006, his book 鈥淗aywire鈥� won the May Swenson Poetry Award. His work gained further national exposure when radio host Garrison Keillor began featuring his poems on the daily National Public Radio broadcast, 鈥淭he Writer鈥檚 Almanac.鈥� The resulting popularity led to Bilgere鈥檚 appearance on Keillor鈥檚 long-running NPR show, 鈥淎 Prairie Home Companion.鈥�
Bilgere鈥檚 distinguished career is marked by numerous awards and fellowships. His recent honors include the 2023 Rattle Chapbook Prize, the 2022 Readers鈥� Choice Award from Rattle Magazine, and the 2021 Editor鈥檚 Choice Award from New Ohio Review.
He has received grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ohio Arts Council, the Fulbright Foundation and the Witter Bynner Foundation through the Library of Congress. Bilgere鈥檚 poems have appeared in many of the nation鈥檚 most respected literary journals and anthologies including Poetry, Best American Poetry, Ploughshares and New England Review.
Bilgere is an English professor at John Carroll University and co-host of the podcast 鈥淲ordplay.鈥�
鈥淕eorge Bilgere has that rare gift of making the everyday feel luminous,鈥� said Donnie Secreast, director of the Jeanne Hoffman Smith Center for Film and Literature. 鈥淗is poems invite us to laugh, to recognize ourselves, and to rediscover how poetry can connect us to ordinary life in extraordinary ways. We鈥檙e thrilled to welcome him to campus and share his work with the Oklahoma City community.鈥�
Event Details
- Title: The Thatcher Hoffman Smith Poetry Series: Conversations with Poet George Bilgere
- Date: Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025
- Time: 7:30 p.m.
- Location: Kerr-McGee Auditorium, 蜜桃影像AV Meinders School of Business
