
K-State’s Open House is back on campus for 2022 — and K-State English is ready!
As the preview page for Open House explains:
Love to read or write? Explore your next chapter with English — one of K-State’s most versatile degrees. Order up a poem from the Poet-in-a-Box. Take a literary quiz to win a free book. Celebrate National Poetry Month by choosing a poem that speaks to you. See what English offers avid readers and creative writers.
Find us inside the K-State Student Union (lower Courtyard level) from 9:00am to 3:00pm on Saturday April 9, and start thinking about the poem you’d like our poets to write just for you.
Not able to get to campus on Saturday to enjoy our table or the many other opportunities around campus?
We’ve got you covered! We’re reprising elements of last year’s virtual Open House for this year.
Our trusty poets will be taking online requests during the same hours as the on-campus poets (9:00am – 2:00pm CT), with poems delivered to your inbox by Sunday. Submit your request starting at 9:00am CT. (Only one request per person, so start thinking now about the key words and topic you’d like to submit!)
Need some inspiration for your poem request? Here are two of poems from last year’s Open House that our virtual poets shared in response to submitted prompts: “The Reading Journey” (prompts: reading and cats) and “There Is You” (prompts: Matthew, “He’s my bf”).
As we wait for Saturday’s Open House, you can enjoy the lightning talks on favorite poems that we created for last year’s online Open House in honor of National Poetry Month:
Kimball Smith on “Love Calls Us” by Richard Wilbur
Mark Crosby on “The Tyger” by William Blake
Elizabeth Dodd on “Why They Love Us” by R.S. Gwynn
Spencer Young (MA ’22) on “The Moment When I Saw a Pelican Devour” by Paige Lewis
Karin Westman on the verse novel Mary’s Monster by Lita Judge
We hope to see you — in-person or online — for some literary-themed fun on Saturday!
— Karin Westman, Associate Professor and Department Head