Marcus Wicker, a new member of the creative writing faculty, will introduce his new poetry book during the RopeWalk event at 5 p.m. today in the Traditions Lounge on the second floor of UC East.
Wicker’s book, “Maybe the Saddest Thing,” released a little over three weeks ago, is a National Poetry Series winner.
“It is funny, it’s contemporary, and it’s often honest,” Wicker said.
Wicker began writing poetry when he was sixteen. He joined a group called the Volume Youth Poetry Troop and later went to the National Youth Poetry based in Ann Arbor, Mich., where he grew up.
“I saw these kids that were about my age that were writing the same things I (had) been scribbling in my journal, but I (had) never showed to anyone,” Wicker said.
After the convention, he said he was determined to get involved.
Wicker gained his master’s at Indiana University and, toward the end of graduate school, he began writing his book, he said. He also taught at Wayne State in Detroit for a year before coming to USI.
He is a poetry editor of the Southern Indiana Review and teaches a creative writing class and two communications courses. He said he plans to stay at USI.
“My students are very thoughtful in class, and they always surprise me,” Wicker said.
He said he feels that it is important for students to attend the RopeWalk events that are held on campus.
“Students should broaden their horizons when it comes to literature,” he said.
Nicole Reid, English associate professor and the RopeWalk director, said she chose Marcus Wicker for the reading because he a poet of national reputation and caliber.
“I want to help present him to the campus and tri-state community,” Reid said. “What better time to do so than with the launch of his first book?”
English professor Matthew Graham said Wicker is an overall likeable person.
“Wicker’s writing has the energy of hip-hop and jazz,” he said.
Wicker’s writing is unique because of his “control stream of conscious and the way he utilizes popular culture as well as classic culture,” Graham said.
