About this Event
Celebrating Okie Poet Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel, readings, conversation, and book signing
Join Karen Neurohr and Betty Blanks as we celebrate the poetry of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel who was born near Stroud in 1918. Her sharecropper family migrated to California in 1936. Although she was physically uprooted, her memories and love for Oklahoma were unshakeable, and she was born to be a writer. She wrote, “It is wrenchingly difficult to be a poet, but there is a joy and magic to compensate.” Uniquely placed by time and geography, Wilma’s writing validates the migrant experience, and she dignifies working-class folk.
Professor Karen Neurohr’s research over Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel includes 34 oral history interviews with Wilma’s family, friends, and publishers. The interviews are accessible through the OSU Library which also houses an archive of Wilma’s writing. Wilma’s poetry has been included in anthologies of working-class literature, Oklahoma poetry, and literature of California’s Central Valley. Karen loves sharing Wilma’s story and poems.
Biographer Betty Blanks is the author of Pick Up Your Name and Write: The Life of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel. Her relationship with Wilma during the last 14 years of the poet’s life was deeply personal. This well-researched biography/memoir traces Wilma’s lifetime of hardship, her community of devoted supporters, and her literary success.
This event is free to the public and sponsored by Tulsa LitFest.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Center for Public Secrets, 573 South Peoria Ave, Tulsa, United States
USD 0.00
