May 25, 2012

Poetry and the Children Day at Binghamton University

Maria Mazziotti Gillan, recipient of the 2011 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award from Poets & Writers and the 2008 American Book Award for her book All That Lies Between Us, hosted Binghamton University's 35th annual Poetry and the Children Day on May 23, at the Osterhout Concert Theater of the Anderson Center on the Vestal campus. Gillan is also director of the Creative Writing Program and professor of poetry at Binghamton University.

More than 400 students from 39 schools and 13 school districts participated. The program, which brings students together for a day of poetry readings, was established as a memorial to Robert Pawlikowski. A published poet, creative writing instructor and campus administrative assistant, Pawlikowski drowned in 1975 while on vacation with his family. Partially underwritten by the Oakdale Mall and Susan Clark-Johnson, an anthology is prepared by the Office of the Dean of Harpur College and distributed to teachers and local libraries. Clark-Johnson is a 1967 Binghamton University graduate and former publisher of the Binghamton Evening Press.

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