Missouri Poet Laureate Justin Hamm will visit Southeast Missouri State University for a public poetry reading Thursday, Oct. 29, at 4:30 p.m. at Catapult Creative House. The event is free and open to the public.
Hamm, the author of five poetry collections, will share his work and discuss his experiences as a writer. A question and answer session will follow the reading, giving students and community members an opportunity to engage with Hamm about his poetry and creative process.
Hamm’s poetry collections include O Death, Drinking Guinness With the Dead: Poems 2007-2021, The Inheritance, American Ephemeral and Lessons in Ruin. He also authored Midwestern, a book of photographs, and created Poet Baseball Cards, a project celebrating poets and their work.
Originally from central Illinois, Hamm lives in Mexico, Missouri, where he works as an elementary school librarian. He is also the founding editor of the museum of americana, an online literary journal featuring writing and art inspired by American culture.
Hamm’s honors include being named a Woody Guthrie Poet in 2022 and 2024 and a Missouri Arts Council Featured Artist in 2020. He was a finalist for the 2018 River Styx International Poetry Prize and won the 2014 Stanley Hanks Memorial Poetry Prize. In 2022, he presented “The American Midwest: A Story in Poems” at TEDx Oshkosh. His poem “Goodbye, Sancho Panza” was included in the World Scholar’s Cup curriculum in 2019, reaching approximately 50,000 students worldwide.
“As always, we’re excited to bring visiting writers to campus to provide our students with opportunities to meet writers from a vast range of backgrounds and with a wide range of experiences,” said Dr. James Brubaker, associate professor of English & Communication.
Hamm’s books will be available for purchase, and he will sign copies following the reading.
To learn more about the Department of English and Communication and its programs, visit semo.edu/english-communication.