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Graham to read from newest book of poetry in final performance after 35 years with USI

April 8, 2019

The final Southern Indiana Reading Series event for the Spring 2019 semester will take place on Thursday, April 11 at 4:30 p.m. in the University of Southern Indiana Griffin Center, followed by a reception. Matthew Graham, professor of English, will read from his newest book of poetry, The Geography of Home, featuring artwork from Katie Waters, professor of art and design. Books will be available for purchase and for signing. This event is free and open to the public.

Graham will also give a reading at the Red Bank Branch of the Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library at 6:30 p.m. that same evening.

 "I think we all have a kind of love/hate relationship with home," said Graham. "There's something comforting about it, but is also something you want to get away from. I think that's why we keep establishing new homes." Graham explores this theme and its many definitions in The Geography of Home.

The poems provide a chronological, and at times, autobiographical account of Graham's interpretation of home throughout his life. Graham also explores abstract concepts of home and the thought of loved ones and friends as a type of home.

The Geography of Home marks Graham's fourth published book of poetry. His other books, New World Architecture, 1946 and A World Without End are available for purchase online and in the University Campus Store.

His poems have also been published in many journals and anthologies including Indiana Review, Missouri Review, The Antioch Review and Harvard Magazine, among others. He was the recipient of awards and fellowships from the Academy of American Poets, Indiana Arts Council, Maryland State First Book Award, Vermont Artist Studio and Pushcart Prize.

He has served as a visiting instructor at the University of Osnabruck in Osnabruck, Germany and as a visiting instructor/writer-in-residence at Harlaxton College in Gratham, England. He is the cofounder of the RopeWalk Writers Retreat, founder of the Southern Indiana Visiting Writers Series, as well as cofounder and original poetry editor of the Southern Indiana Review.

The Southern Indiana Reading Series is made possible by the USI College of Liberal Arts, the USI Foundation, the Indiana Arts Commission, the Vanderburgh Community Foundation Alliance and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

For more information visit USI.edu/reading-series or contact Dr. Casey Pycior, assistant professor of English, at 812-228-5037 or cpycior@usi.edu.

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