POTSDAM – A celebration of the life and work of Dr. Maurice F. Kenny will be held Wednesday, May 4, from 7 to 9 p.m. Hurley’s, under Lehman Dining Hall, on the SUNY Potsdam campus.

Friends, colleagues, students, and admirers are invited for a celebration of Dr. Kenny, who passed away in Saranac Lake, Saturday, April 16, at the age of 86.

As part of a career of more than sixty years as a poet, publisher, editor, and teacher, Dr. Kenny taught at SUNY Potsdam from the late 1990s until his retirement in 2011. Starting with “Dead Letters Sent” in 1958, he published more than thirty books of poetry, fiction, drama, and essays during his lifetime. He was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for his collections of poetry “Blackrobe: Isaac Jogues” (1982) and “Between Two Rivers” (1987), and won the American Book Award for “The Mama Poems.” In recognition of his contributions to literature, Dr. Kenny was elected to the New York State Writers Hall of Fame in 2014.

The evening will provide an opportunity for a public remembrance of Dr. Kenny’s contributions to SUNY Potsdam, to the North Country, and to literature in general. Friends and colleagues will read selected poems from his latest book at the beginning of the evening, after which the microphone will be opened to anyone wishing to read one of Dr. Kenny’s poems (the organizers ask that each reader limit him or herself to a single poem, as there will likely be many who wish to honor Dr. Kenny’s legacy in this way; if time permits, individual readers may return for a second poem). There will also be a display of various photographs, posters, newspapers, and books relating to Dr. Kenny’s illustrious career.

This event will also serve as the world premiere of his first posthumous book, a collection of poems entitled “Saranac Lake Ghost Poems” published by Ghost City Press of Syracuse, (http://ghostcitypress.tumblr.com/). Ghost City’s founder and editor, Kevin Bertolero, will be on hand and will have copies of the book available for sale.

For more information, contact Derek Maus at derekmaus@gmail.com or Ethan Shantie shantiek190@gmail.com.