The 29th annual event will feature multiple poets, including special guest Joan Peterson

The Friends of the Hannon Library will host the 29th William Stafford Poetry Celebration from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11, at Southern Oregon University’s Hannon Library, 1250 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, in the Meese Room, organizers have announced.

Poet Joan Peterson will be the special guest poet, with additional poetry from Barret O’Brian, Steve Dieffenbacher, Alma Rosa Alvarez, and Dave Moodie. In-person attendees will also be invited to read their favorite William Stafford poem.

The event is free and open to the public. A Zoom link will also be available on the Friends of the Hannon Library website, hanlib.sou.edu/friends/lectureseries.html.

Stafford, a nationally renowned Oregon poet who served as the Oregon Poet Laureate from 1975 to 1990, died in 1993. His collection “Traveling Through the Dark” won the 1963 National Book Award for Poetry. In 1970, he was named Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, an honor now known as the U.S. Poet Laureate. In 1992, he won the Western States Book Award for lifetime achievement in poetry.

Light refreshments will be served, and complimentary parking is available in parking lots 21 and 22. Metered parking is also available in lots 1, 12, 29, 36, 37, and 41.

Anyone needing disability accommodations can contact SOU’s Disability Resources Office at 541-552-6213.

For more information, email libraryevents@sou.edu or call 541-552-6816.