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Welcome & Introduction

Good evening. My name is John Ulmschneider. I’m Dean of Libraries and University Librarian here at Virginia Commonwealth University. And on behalf of the faculty, students, and staff of Virginia Commonwealth University, I extend to all of you our warmest welcome to this, our 21st celebration of the Levis Reading Prize.

The Levis Prize is named in honor of the renowned poet Larry Levis, who taught here at VCU until his untimely passing in 1996. The prize pays tribute to the wide-ranging, uncompromising, and deeply moving poetry of Levis, his extraordinary mastery of craft, and the continued growth of his influence and recognition among writers and readers as one of America’s greatest poetic voices.

The Levis Prize is given each year to a poet whose first or second book is judged the very best of poetry books published during the previous calendar year. Each year we receive around 150 or more nominations of books. The selection of the winner is an intensive process that requires all the talents and energies from the MFA program here at VCU, other readers from the extended VCU community, and even some participants from the immediate VCU community who are deep readers and understanders of poetry. The winner is selected from among the finalists by a panel of judges from the MFA faculty here at VCU, who are the driving force behind VCU’s recognition as one of the most distinguished writing programs in the nation.

It’s a rigorous process, as you can tell, and that’s why we’re really proud to have this year’s winner, Kaveh Akbar, with us tonight. I know we all look forward to hearing from him in just a little while.

The library is proud to hold the papers of Larry Levis and the personal effects of his life, even right down to his iconic boots and leather jacket that we have up in our collection. We are also delighted to provide significant financial and logistic support each year. Behind me on the screen you’ll see some excerpts from an online exhibit about Levis and his work that we developed and brought online this past spring. It provides a unique illustration of how Levis developed his craft, and it demonstrates particularly and importantly the enormous influence of his friends and colleagues on his work, including his friends and colleagues here in Richmond and at VCU who are still here.

The Levis Collection is one of a number of important collections of papers and manuscripts from eminent regional and national poets that the VCU Libraries is building for the use of scholars and students, and particularly for poets and those who study the craft of poetry. It’s a long process. It requires funding that the state simply does not provide, and you can help us develop that funding that we need to assemble this preeminent collection of poets and poetry in Virginia and, indeed, in the Southeast and in the country.

At last year’s Levis Prize you may remember that I announced the new Endowment for Special Collections at VCU. The endowment will provide the kinds of financial resources that we need to acquire these rare and unique materials that document the work of poets and writers and artists from Virginia and from the Southeast and from all over the country, as well as other areas of growth in our distinguished collections in the arts.

And I’m delighted to say that since that announcement you recall this past spring, we have matched and exceeded the challenge gift that we put forward of $30,000, so we now have a very modest foundation of $60,000 in our new endowment upon which to build in the future for the acquisition of materials and special collections.

The Levis Prize itself is an example of just how important the support of our donors are to creating a world-class university and to honoring the writers and artists in our midst. The prize is made possible by sponsorship from the VCU Department of English, from the VCU Libraries and its donor community, from the College of Humanities and Sciences, our friends at Barnes & Noble at the VCU Bookstore—who have the books out back—and, of course, the extended family of Larry Levis.

Opening our program tonight is Greg Donovan, Professor of English here at VCU. Greg is the Senior Editor of the esteemed literary journal Blackbird and has published his latest book of poems, Torn From The Sun, in 2015. Greg was a close friend and colleague of Larry Levis, and each year he shares with us some of his experiences with Larry to help us examine and reflect on and remember the life and work of Larry, and to invoke Larry’s spirit here into this occasion that we have set aside to honor his memory.

Ladies and gentlemen, Greg Donovan.  

John Ulmschneider is dean of libraries and university librarian at Virginia Commonwealth University.