February 19, 2002

Contact: John Edgar Tidwell, English, (785) 864-2583.

Langston Hughes poetry circles to begin Feb. 24, 25 in five cities across Kansas

LAWRENCE -- Poetry circles celebrating the work of Langston Hughes are scheduled to begin Feb. 24 in Norton and Feb. 25 in Hays, Independence, Iola and Topeka.

"Our purpose is to take literature to people in their communities," said John Edgar Tidwell, University of Kansas associate professor of English and project director. Funded by the Kansas Humanities Council, the poetry circle project is part of the centennial celebration at KU and in Lawrence for Langston Hughes (1902-1967).

The KHC $6,600 grant funded "Reading and Remembering Langston Hughes" at sites in six Kansas cities, including Lawrence and Topeka, cities where Hughes lived as a child.

"Our ultimate goal is to encourage participants to reflect on different kinds of literature and, we hope, to involve them in discussions about how literature shapes and transforms their lives," Tidwell said. "We hope these Kansas circles will become the basis for a national model that will expand the circles throughout the United States."

"Lawrence was our test site," Tidwell said. The Lawrence poetry circles were offered in October and November at the Lawrence Public Library. The response in Lawrence surprised Tidwell and Sandra Wiechert of the Lawrence Public Library. Generally a poetry circle is a group of 25 to 30 people meeting regularly to read and discuss an author's work.

"We had more than 50 people sign up for the Lawrence poetry circle," Tidwell said. "We divided into two groups and had concurrent sessions."

With the exception of Iola, where the Bowlus Fine Arts Center and the public library are joint sponsors, the circles are conducted at public libraries. Humanities scholars from colleges and universities around the state and the Kansas City area conduct the circles. The scholars circulate on varying dates to each of the five cities in February through April 15.

Books are provided and circulated to each community. Those selected for this project are Hughes' "Not Without Laughter," a fictionalized account of his childhood in Lawrence; "The Collected Poems"; "The Big Sea," the first of his two autobiographies; and "The Best of Simple," character sketches in prose. A free study guide is provided with the first book.

Dates for the circles in each city and local contacts are:
 • Northwest Library System at Norton: Feb. 24, March 10, April 7 and April 14; contact Anne Bailey, (785) 877-5148.
 • Hays Public Library: Feb. 25, March 11, April 1 and April 15; contact Anne Milhollen, (785) 625-9014.
 • Independence Public Library: Feb. 25, March 11, April 1 and April 15; contact Cheryl Greer, (620) 331-3030.
 • Iola Public Library and the Bowlus Fine Arts Center: Feb. 25, March 11, April 1 and April 15; contact Mary Martin, (316) 365-4765.
 • Topeka Public Library: Feb. 25, March 11, April 1 and April 15; contact Susan Marchant, (785) 231-0588.

The humanities scholars conducting the circles on varying dates are:
 • from KU, Deborah Dandridge, Maryemma Graham, Elizabeth Schultz and Tidwell;
 • from Washburn University in Topeka, Thomas Averill;
 • from Hutchinson Community College, Steven Hind;
 • from Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Carmeletta Williams;
 • from Bethany College in Lindsborg, Linda Lewis;
 • from University of Missouri at Kansas City, Kimberly Banks and Barbara Ryan;
 • from Admire, author Ann Birney.

More information is available online at www.kuce.org/hughes.