Traci Brimhall is a Kansas Poet Laureate (2023-2026) and professor at Kansas State University where she manages the creative writing program. She earned a BA at Florida State University, an MFA at Sarah Lawrence College, and a PhD at Western Michigan University. She has published four books of poetry, Come the Slumberless to the Land of Nod (2020), Saudade (2017), Our Lady of Ruins (2012), and Rookery (2010). Her passion for poetry ignited when she read a Sharon Olds poem for the first time in high school and instantly felt less alone.
Traci’s generative poetry workshops include thoroughly engaging discussions and attendees walk away with a greater appreciation for poetry and community. Brimhall has such a thoughtful way of running a workshop. She conveys how the ordinary or “everyday” object or scenario can be transformed by perspective, and thus our understanding of everyday life can also be transformed.
Recently, Traci collaborated with visual artist Kelly Yarbrough to create a Poetry Walk for November 2023 to coincide with the Johnson County Library Writer’s Conference. Make sure to take a stroll through Strang Park, just behind the Central Resource Library, during the conference or during your Library visit this upcoming November.
Traci and Kelly will do a panel at the conference on the fascinating dynamics of their collaboration, and Traci will teach several poetry workshops during the conference. We look forward to seeing you Nov. 2-4 to write, network, and talk books with us! You can register to attend the Nov. 2 Kickoff here and you can register for both days of the Writers Conference here. For the Conference, your RSVP is for both days and sessions will be on a first-come, first-serve basis. We look forward to seeing you there!
If you’d like to catch up with Traci online, you can find her on her website.