John Gallaher’s approach to poetry might not be conventional, but that’s by design.
“I like when a poem surprises me, when it does something I don’t expect it to do, but not just to be surprising, or unexpected,” Gallaher said in an interview with Connotation Press. “There’s always a danger when one goes for a kind of surrealism, maybe, or a relationship with the absurd, and is looking for surprise, that the poem will just kind of spiral out into confetti. Still, a little confetti now and then never hurt anyone . . . We’ll all survive the experience.”
Poetry enthusiasts can experience Gallaher’s work firsthand on Thursday, April 14, when the Creative Writers Reading Series returns to Penn State Behrend. The Portland, Oregon native will read excerpts from his latest collection, “In a Landscape.” His 6 p.m. reading and the reception that will precede it are free and open to the public. Both events will be held in the Larry and Kathryn Smith Chapel.
Gallaher is the author of five poetry collections, including “In a Landscape,” “Your Father on the Train of Ghosts,” “Map of the Folded World,” “The Little Book of Guesses” and “Gentlemen in Turbans, Ladies in Cauls.”
His poetry has been published in literary journals and magazines that include Boston Review, Colorado Review, Crazyhorse, Field, The Literati Quarterly, jubilat, The Journal and Ploughshares. He is currently an associate professor of English at Northwest Missouri State University and co-editor of The Laurel Review.
The Creative Writers Reading Series is produced by Penn State Behrend’s B.F.A. in Creative Writing degree program with support from the Clarence A. and Eugenie Baumann Smith Fund. For additional information, call 814-898-6108 or visit behrend.psu.edu/readings.