Curtis L CrislerCurtis L. Crisler, Indiana Poet Laureate, was born and raised in Gary, Indiana. He received a BA in English, with a minor in Theatre, from Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW, now PFW), and he received his MFA from Southern IllinoisUniversity Carbondale. His award-winning publications as well as his awards and fellowships are too numerous to list here. Crisler's work exhibits what he calls an urban Midwestern sensibility (uMs). What uMs exemplifies is "the community and creativity of the varied relationships of descendants from the first through second waves of the southern migration, exploring their connections to place/environment, history, family, and self." Also, he created the poetry form the sonastic and the Indiana Chitlin Circuit (a small circuit bringing writers to Ft. Wayne). Crisler is Professor of English at Purdue University Fort Wayne. Contact him for readings, workshops, presentations, lectures, etc. at poetcrisler.com. Read More Read Less