RIPON, Wis. – Denise Sweet, Wisconsin’s poet laureate, will read selections from her collected works at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 22 in the Caestecker Art Gallery of Ripon College’s C.J. Rodman Center for the Arts.

Sweet is the first tribal woman to be named a state poet laureate in U.S. history. An Ojibwe from White Earth, Wis., her ancestors came from Quebec, Madeleine Island and Red Cliff. Since 1985 she has served as an educator in the UW System and is currently an associate professor in the Department of Humanistic Studies, as well as English/Creative Writing, and First Nation Studies at UW-Green Bay. Her first collection of poems, "Songs for Discharming" (Greenfield Press, 1998) won the Diane Decorah Award and the Posner Award for Poetry from the Wisconsin Council of Writers.

Her first chapbook, "To Know by Heart" (Rhiannon Press, 1990) was published as a special anniversary tribute to the women's movement, acknowledging “women word warriors” of all nations and identities. Other published titles include “Days of Obsidian, Days of Grace,” and “Nitaawichige” (NEE-tah-WICH-ah-gay). Her poems have been anthologized in numerous collections, and featured in several journals and videos commissioned by the International Crane Fondation and Wisconsin Public Television. Her poem “Constellations” is part of the permanent exhibit of poetry at the Midwest Express Center in Milwaukee, Wis. Her theatre training and sheer luck won her a minor role in Black Cloud, a film directed by Rick Schroeder.

“I have works-in-progress – three at the moment – and every day I am grateful to be of good use in this manner as my Creator would have it,” she said. “Each day, as I lift myself out of the dream world, the prayers begin – I cannot take fine poetry for granted – praying for a simple cue from my Creator. All that exists in this world is worthy of witness, recognition and often respect – now, ain't that a miracle enough for a poem?”

Her visit is sponsored by the Ripon Visiting Writer’s Program with generous support from the Lynne Post Northrop Fund and the Schang Family Visiting Writer’s Fund. For more information, contact Kate Sontag in the Ripon College English Department, sontagk@ripon.edu or 920-748-8723.

About Ripon College
Ripon College, founded in 1851, prepares students of diverse interests for lives of productive, socially responsible citizenship. Ripon’s liberal arts curriculum and residential campus create an intimate learning community in which students experience a richly personalized education. Ripon has consistently been recognized as a “best value” and “Best 366 College” by The Princeton Review, a “Best Buy in College Education” by Barron’s, a “Best Liberal-Arts College” by Washington Monthly, and is listed among the 160 best schools in the nation by Colleges of Distinction.

Denise Sweet