Poetry readings to honor the late Howard Starks
Press Release Date: 11-04-2009
DURANT, Okla. – Friends, family, and former students and colleagues will gather to honor the late Howard Starks, a distinguished long-time teacher at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, with two readings of his poetry on Nov. 13.
The first is at 10 a.m. in the second floor auditorium in the student union, the other at 7 p.m. in the Fine Arts Recital Hall (Little Theater), both on the Southeastern campus. The evening event is open to the general public. Attendees will have an opportunity to purchase a copy of "Family Album," the proceeds of which go to a scholarship fund Starks established at the University.
Poems to be read will come from Starks' book, "Family Album," which was a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award in 1997. The "strong sense of family and place" in Starks' poetry was a major strength cited by OBA judges.
The tribute to Starks is part of Southeastern’s year-long commemoration of the university's centennial.
"Not only was Professor Starks an accomplished poet and an influential and respected teacher," said Dr. Larry Minks, Southeastern interim president, "but he was much loved by students and colleagues. The university is proud to honor someone who so personified the caliber of individual achievement and lasting warm relationships that characterize the Southeastern experience."
One poem from the book, "August: Osage County," has achieved both national and international prominence since the phenomenal success of Tracy Letts' play of the same name. Letts' drama won both the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for best play of 2008.
It has been performed on Broadway, at the prestigious Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago, and in several European countries. A touring company will bring the play to both Dallas and Tulsa in January.
Professor Starks was a friend and mentor to the play's author, and a long-time friend and colleague to Letts' parents, Dr. Dennis and Billie Letts, who went on from SE to distinguished careers in acting and fiction writing, respectively.
Professor Starks taught at Southeastern from 1968 until his retirement in 1995. He died in 2003.
Readers at the two performances will include Starks' sister, Bette Posey of Midwest City, and her daughter, Elizabeth Alexander of Phoenix, Arizona; former students Carol Hamilton, poet laureate of Oklahoma 1995-97 and winner of the 1992 Oklahoma Book Award; Carl Sennhenn, poet laureate of Oklahoma in 2001-03 and winner of the 2007 Oklahoma Book Award; Ron Wallace, winner of the 2009 Oklahoma Writer’s Federation Best Book of Poetry and English teacher at SE, formerly at Colbert High School; Curt Boles, nationally acclaimed Western artist; Charles Ladd, English teacher at Whitesboro, Texas, High School and at SE; John Caldwell, English teacher at Coleman, OK; and Valerie Gee, English teacher at Antlers, OK; former colleagues Dr. David Cook, nationally acclaimed director of college theater, formerly at SE and presently at Tulsa University; Dr. Elbert Hill, professor emeritus of English at SE; and Marion Moore Hill, mystery novelist.