The 2009 McEver Visiting Chairs in Writing:

Katie Chaple,

Travis Wayne Denton,

and John Skoyles

H. Bruce McEver left Georgia Tech in the 1960's armed with an Industrial Engineering Degree and a love of poetry spawned in a class with then English Professor James Dean Young, who had taught at Tech for 28 years. What Bruce McEver learned about the relationships between the mechanical arts and the fine arts went with him to Harvard and, McEver believes, forms the foundation of his business acumen and success.

Bruce McEver wants all Tech students to experience the broader aspects of liberal arts, including poetry, literature, and travel, so they will understand the context and impact of the technical expertise they are gaining, and he endowed the McEver Chair so that the School of Literature, Communication, and Culture of the Ivan Allen College can bring a top writer to campus each year, "an exceptional opportunity for Tech students" says Kenneth Knoespel, school Chair, "to be exposed to and study with the finest writing talents in the country and beyond."

In addition to teaching Tech students, each visiting chair will reach into the community with a program of poetry events and workshops designed to recognize poetry for its possibilities in all our lives and to recognize those involved in the craft of writing poetry--whether accomplished, rising, or beginning--for the artists they are.

To fulfill the McEver vision for the 2009 spring semester, Katie Chaple, Travis Wayne Denton and John Skoyles will visit the Georgia Tech campus, each contributing to the teaching of an on-campus poetry class for students, a free all-day-Saturday poetry-writing workshop in the community for interested persons (see workshops), a free on-campus public reading of their work (see schedule of events ), and visit two area schools as part of POETRY at TECH's outreach program.