April 8, 2022

 Media Contacts:
Derek Sheffield, WVC English faculty, dsheffield@wvc.edu
Libby Siebens, community relations executive director, (509) 682-6436, lsiebens@wvc.edu (Mon.-Thurs.)

In recognition of National Poetry Month and Earth Week, Wenatchee Valley College presents Matt Rader, visiting writer and ecopoet.

Rader will give a presentation and read his work Tuesday, April 19 from 1-2 p.m. in The Grove Recital Hall. He will be joined by the student winner of the WVC Student Earth Day Poetry Contest, who will read their winning poem. Rader will be visiting WVC English classes to speak with students that morning.

Rader has published five books of poems, a collection of stories, and a work of autotheory. His writings have appeared widely in publications around the world, most recently, The Walrus, Vallum, Terrain.org, EcoTheo and The Journal for Social Alternatives. His work has been collected in several anthologies including multiple editions of Best Canadian Poetry. Rader has received grants from The Canada Council for the Arts, The British Columbia Arts Council and The Social Sciences Research Council of Canada among others. In 2014, he was awarded the Joseph S. Stauffer Prize for Literature from the Canada Council for the Arts. He is an associate professor of creative writing at the University of British Columbia Okanagan. He lives with his family on the unceded and traditional territory of the syilx/Okanagan people in Kelowna, BC. 

This event is sponsored by the Icicle Creek Center for the Arts and A Book for All Seasons.

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Wenatchee Valley College enriches North Central Washington by serving educational and cultural needs of communities and residents throughout the service area. The college is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion for all students and employees and provides high-quality transfer, liberal arts, professional/technical, basic skills and continuing education for students of diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds.

Wenatchee Valley College is committed to a policy of equal opportunity in employment and student enrollment. All programs are free from discrimination and harassment against any person because of race, creed, color, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, or the use of a service animal by a person with a disability, age, parental status or families with children, marital status, religion, genetic information, honorably discharged veteran or military status or any other prohibited basis per RCW 49.60.030, 040 and other federal and state laws and regulations, or participation in the complaint process. The following persons have been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies and Title IX compliance for both the Wenatchee and Omak campuses:

• To report discrimination or harassment: Title IX Coordinator, Wenatchi Hall 2322M, (509) 682-6445, title9@wvc.edu.
• To request disability accommodations: Director of Student Access, Wenatchi Hall 2133, (509) 682-6854, TTY/TTD: dial 711, sas@wvc.edu.