North Arkansas College’s annual Visiting Poet Series is excited to host Suzanne Underwood Rhodes, the Arkansas Poet Laureate, on March 5, 2024 in the South Campus library, located in the Learning Resource Center.
Her love of writing began when she was only age six. According to Rhodes, “The call to writing was by gift and experience—a gift heaven-sent, and experience shaped by powerful influencers beginning with my mother. A writer herself and a great encourager, she nurtured my imagination by reading aloud wonderful stories and poems to my two sisters and me.”
Two main influences were Edna ST. Vincent Millay and William Wordsworth, “whose ‘Tintern Abbey’ reflected my own contemplative mind and love of nature,” states Rhodes. Her poetry is an exploration of “personal history and family, the allure of the natural world, the psychological contradictions and complexities of human personality, historical figures, and Christian spirituality.”
A native of New York, she now resides in Fayetteville, Arkansas. From there, she travels a great deal, sharing her love of poetry and teaching the craft through various workshops across the state.
She has published numerous collections of poetry, including the award-winning Flying Yellow. Her most recent chapbook, The Perfume of Pain, will be released by Alabaster Leaves Publishing in July of this year.
Rhodes will read selected works from 12-1 p.m. The reading is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be available.