Poet earns fellowship

Laurie Lamon, an associate professor in the English department at Whitworth College, has received the Witter Bynner Fellowship from U.S. poet laureate Donald Hall.

Lamon received $10,000 and must fulfill two promises – participate in a reading and recording session at the Library of Congress and organize a reading of her works in her hometown.

The award is given at the discretion of the poet laureate, and Lamon did not have to apply for it. It’s an award for a poet’s body of work, not for a particular piece.

When Lamon learned by letter that she had won the fellowship, “It was just a complete surprise,” she said.

The Witter Bynner Fellowship has been given to two poets each of the last 10 years. The other winner this year was David Tucker, deputy managing editor of the Newark (N.J.) Star Ledger and a celebrated poet.

Lamon said she met Hall when he spoke at Whitworth about 10 years ago. She began corresponding with him, and eventually they became friends.

One of the highlights of her trip was seeing Hall in his role as poet laureate.

“He’s one of the great poets of our time,” she said. “He’s a man of letters.”

Hall also wrote the introduction to Lamon’s book, “A Fork Without Hunger,” a collection of 36 poems published in 2005.

“I’ve been writing poetry seriously since I was young,” she said. “I can’t imagine not writing.”

Lamon has been teaching at Whitworth since 1985 and has found that working full time makes it difficult to spend a lot of time writing. This fellowship will help support time to write.

“It’s an unbelievable gift,” she said.

Lamon teaches several courses at Whitworth, including contemporary American poetry, women’s poetry and creative writing.

“I’m very fortunate to teach the topics I love,” she said.

Lamon received the gift at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., on March 29. While there, she and her husband, Bill Siems, toured the library and the Holocaust Museum.

The Holocaust is a topic of special interest to Lamon because she teaches a Poetry of Witness course at Whitworth, exploring the relationship between art and humanity.

Lamon also was interviewed by Grace Cavalieri, who broadcasts via satellite for National Public Radio from the Library of Congress. Lamon talked for about an hour and read some of her poems.

Lamon is planning to complete her promise with a reading in November at the Seattle Public Library. She also would like to do some readings of her work in Spokane.

This isn’t the first accolade Lamon has received for her poetry. She won the Washington state Artist Trust Award in 2005, a Graves Award in 2002 and the Pushcart Prize in 2001.