November 18, 2011
Dr. Benjamin Myers' volume of poetry titled "Elegy for Trains" was reviewed recently by CCCU Advance magazine. Myers is an associate professor of English at OBU.
Miho Nonaka, assistant professor of English at Wheaton College, reviewed Myers' poetry. The review analyzed Myers' blend of history and literature through several poetic forms such as sonnet, sestina and American haiku, and praised Myers' work, calling his collection a "satisfying journey of lyrical mediation and a source of inspiration."
Myers earned his bachelor's degree from University of the Ozarks, and his master's degree and Ph.D. in English literature from Washington University in St. Louis. He has taught at OBU since 2005.
His poems have appeared in numerous literary journals, including Ruminate, The Mid-America Poetry Review, Möbius and Byline. His poem "A Small Town Mourns its First Casualty" was included in the illustrated anthology for children, "America at War," edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins and published by McElderry Books (NY, 2008).
Myers won the 1996 Byline Literary Award for Poetry for his poem, "For Jack Kerouac." He has studied in select poetry workshops under B.H. Fairchild, Ellen Kort, Michael Harper and Yusef Komunyakka. His essays on poetry have appeared in several highly prestigious academic journals, including English Literary History, Studies in Philology, English Literary Renaissance and The South-Central Review. He has made presentations on poetry at conferences ranging from the Southwest Conference on Christianity and Literature at Houston Baptist University to the Ninth International Symposium on John Milton at University College of London.
Myers lives with his wife, Mandy, and their three children in Chandler, Okla.
"Elegy for Trains" was published through Village Books Press, and currently is available in paperback for $15 through Amazon.com.
Founded in 2002, Village Books Press is a small, independent publisher dedicated to publishing the best in Oklahoman poetry. The Village Books Press catalog includes several winners of the Oklahoma Book Award, such as Nathan Brown (Two Tables Over, 2009) and Carl Sennhenn (Travels Through Enchanted Woods, 2007). Their catalog also includes titles by Jim Spurr, Jane Taylor, the late Jim Chastain, Ken Hada, Terry Britton, Rockford Johnson and many other Oklahoma poets.