Wheelbarrow Books Poet Roundtable
We welcome poets Anita Skeen, Thomas Lynch, and Julia McConnell to the Roethke House on Friday, April 3. Skeen is the Founding Director of the RCAH Center for Poetry at Michigan State and Series Editor of the Wheelbarrow Books Poetry Competition. McConnell is a 2022 recipient of the prize, and Lynch served as a judge in the selection of Julia’s book, Landlocked. They will engage in a roundtable talk about McConnell’s book and Lynch’s new novel, No Prisoners, and Skeen’s experience as a reader of manuscripts and editor of the series.
The event will include a Q&A with the audience, both at the house and online via Zoom.
This event is free and open to the public, but donations are always welcome. Friends of Roethke Foundation is a 501c(3) non-profit.
About Thomas Lynch
Thomas Lynch is the author of six books of essays, a book of short fiction and six books of poetry. He was a National Book Award finalist for The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade. He lives in Michigan, where he worked as a funeral director until his retirement, and in Ireland, where he keeps an ancestral home. His latest title, No Prisoners (Godine, 2025) is his first novel.
About Julia McConnell
Julia McConnell is the author of Landlocked, winner of the 2022 Wheelbarrow Books Poetry Prize, selected by Thomas Lynch. Her chapbook, Against the Blue, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2016. Originally from Oklahoma, Julia is a librarian living in Seattle with her partner, her poodle, and her Jack Russell Terrier.
About Anita Skeen
Anita Skeen is currently Professor Emerita in the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities at Michigan State University where she is the Founding Director of The RCAH Center for Poetry at MSU and the Series Editor for Wheelbarrow Books.
She is the author of six volumes of poetry: Each Hand A Map (1986); Portraits (1990); Outside the Fold, Outside the Frame (1999); The Resurrection of the Animals (2002); Never the Whole Story (2011); When We Say Shelter (2007), with Oklahoma poet Jane Taylor; and The Unauthorized Audubon (2014,With Taylor, she co-edited the literary anthology Once Upon A Place: Writings from Ghost Ranch (2008). Her poetry, short fiction, and essays have appeared in numerous literary magazines and anthologies. Collaboration is an important aspect of her work and she is currently involved in writing projects with poets Jane Taylor and Cindy Hunter Morgan. With linocut artist Laura DeLind, she has recently completed a poetry manuscript, Even the Least of These: The 10-line Poem in the Time of Crisis.