Utah's poet laureate to give benefit reading

Ken Brewer, poet laureate of Utah, will give a benefit reading on Thursday in Logan, for the Adrienne Platero Creative Writing Award. The event will take place in the Utah State University Haight Alumni Center.

Brewer, USU emeritus professor, will read some of Platero's works, a few pieces by other Utah writers, and some of his own poetry.

Platero, a former student in USU's English department, died in November 2002 of leukemia while pursuing an MFA in creative writing at Oregon State University. As a tribute to Platero, friends, teachers and former colleagues are working to fund a cash award each year to the overall winner of the annual USU English Department's creative-writing contest. Platero's writing won second place in the contest in 2000 and 2002 and her essay, "Foreign Land," won first place in 2002. Her poems have been published in literary journals throughout the Western states. The public is invited to attend the benefit reading. There is a suggested donation of $5. Books by various poets will also be available for purchase, with all proceeds going directly to the Platero Award fund.

For further information, contact Marina Hall at 435-797-3858.