Exeter, NH (March 28, 2007)—Phillips Exeter Academy proudly welcomes U.S. Poet Laureate and Harkness Fellow Donald Hall ’47, to give a public reading from his works as part of its yearlong celebration of Harkness on Monday, April 9, 2007, at 7:00 p.m. in the Assembly Hall. The Assembly Hall is located on the second floor of the Academy Building on Front Street. The event, which is sponsored by The Friends of the Academy Library, the English Department and the Harkness Program, is free and open to the public.

Described as “…one of America’s greatest and most-admired men of letters,” Hall is this year’s 13th Harkness Fellow to visit the campus. For more than 50 years, the poet from New Hampshire has authored more than 15 books of beautiful poetry on an array of what is often referred to as “distinctly American” subjects. His poetry is described as plainspoken, simple, lyrical and conveyed with passion; his verse about life’s sorrows and celebrations. Hall’s poems are rich with New Hampshire’s rural landscape—in particular, Eagle Pond Farm, where Hall’s grandmother and mother were born, and where he spent his boyhood summers before moving there permanently 30 years ago.

He began his writing career as a young boy and continued to write throughout his prep school years at Exeter. At 14, he declared his decision to become a poet and at 16, he attended the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, where he first met poet Robert Frost. Later that year, in 1944, he published his first poem.

In 1955, Hall published his first book of poetry, Exiles and Marriages. Earlier this year and 20 published books later, he released his latest work, White Apples and the Taste of Stone: Selected Poems 1946–2006 (Houghton Mifflin), a volume of his essential life’s work.

Hall has also written children’s books, including Ox-Cart Man (1979), which won the Caldecott Medal. His numerous books of prose include Willow Temple: New and Selected Stories (2003); The Best Day The Worst Day: Life with Jane Kenyon (2005), which chronicles life before and after his wife’s death; and a collection of his essays about poetry, Breakfast Served Any Time All Day (2003). He has written extensively about life in New Hampshire—Seasons at Eagle Pond (1987) and Here at Eagle Pond (2000). He is currently working on a third volume, Eagle Pond, scheduled for publication in 2007.

He has received dozens of accolades for his poetry, including the Lenore Marshall/Nation Award in 1987 for “The Happy Man”; the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Award in 1988 for The One Day; and the Ruth Lilly Prize for poetry in 1994. Hall is also the recipient of two Guggenheim Fellowships and the Poetry Society of America’s Robert Frost Silver Medal, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

“Donald Hall is one of America’s most distinctive and respected literary figures,” Librarian of Congress James Billington said. “For more than 50 years, he has written beautiful poetry on a wide variety of subjects that are often distinctly American and conveyed with passion.”

Harkness teaching and learning began 75 years ago with an educational experiment that placed 12 students and one teacher around an oval table, and remains the hallmark of Exeter’s educational philosophy to this day. Philanthropist Edward Harkness, Principal Lewis Perry and a group of senior faculty together transformed almost every aspect of school life and influenced secondary school education throughout the country. The Harkness plan offers a generous opportunity for dialogue and the ability to hear the voice of each student. The Harkness table places students at the center of the learning process and encourages them to learn from one another.

For the rest of the school year, lectures, exhibitions and visits from a distinguished group of Harkness Fellows will be a part of the celebration for this historic Harkness milestone. Many of the featured guests are alumni/ae, who will each spend several days on campus attending classes, meeting with students and faculty, and giving talks.

For more information, please call Academy Librarian Jacquelyn Thomas at (603) 777-3328, or Rick Schubart at (603) 777-3589. For directions to Phillips Exeter Academy, call (603) 777-4330. For more information on other events, contact the Phillips Exeter Academy public events line at (603) 777-4309, or visit the Academy website at http://www.exeter.edu/.

For a brief biography of Hall, and to hear audio clips of Hall reading his own work, see the Library of Congress website.

Learn more about other events associated with the Harkness 75th Anniversary Celebration.

Phillips Exeter Academy is a coeducational, independent preparatory school that was founded in 1781 and originated the system of instruction known as Harkness teaching in 1931. In the spirit of its charter to foster both goodness and knowledge, students come from a wide variety of geographic, economic, racial and religious backgrounds. The diverse student body comes from approximately 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and 26 foreign countries.