By Ariel C. Emberton, staff writer/photographer, Office of University Communications
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – Jeff Worley, 2019-2020 Kentucky Poet Laureate, will hold a poetry reading in Campbellsville University’s Bright-Redmon Student Commons in Montgomery Library, 116 University Drive, Campbellsville at 4 p.m. Feb. 13.
He has published six books, four chapbooks and edited a poetry anthology titled “What Comes Down to Us.” His works have appeared in magazines in the United States and Canada for the past 45 years, and he is the recipient of numerous awards and honors.
Worley received his Bachelor of Science in English from Wichita State University in 1971 and his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing in 1975. He has worked as an offset pressman, cab driver, folk singer, university professor and research magazine editor.
After graduate school, he taught at University of Maryland’s European division. Worley worked at the University of Maryland in Heidelberg and Nuremberg until 1983, teaching writing courses and American literature.
During the eight years he worked with the European division, Worley traveled extensively to Germany, France, England, Spain, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, Greece and Yugoslavia.
Worley and his wife, Linda, who also taught at the University of Maryland in Nuremberg, returned to the United States in 1983. He took a position at the Penn State Altoona campus as an assistant professor of English in 1984.
For a change of pace, according to his website, Worley joined the staff of the “Odyssey,” the University of Kentucky’s research magazine, and wrote feature articles, primarily on hard science and medical research. He worked as assistant editor from 1989 to 1996 and editor and chief science writer from 1996 to 2010.
From 1991 to 1992 Worley worked for Transylvania University as an adjunct assistant professor of English. From 2012 to 2019 he held poetry writing workshops for the Carnegie Center for Learning and Literacy.
Worley retired from the University of Kentucky in 2010. He and his wife divide their time between their home in Lexington and their Cave Run Lake cabin.
For a full list of works and honors and awards visit http://www.jeff-worley.com/jeff/.
There will be chapel credit available for the event.
Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 14,000 students offering over 100 programs of study including Ph.D., master, baccalaureate, associate, pre-professional and certification programs. The university has Kentucky based off-campus centers in Louisville, Harrodsburg, Somerset, Hodgenville and Liberty with instructional sites in Elizabethtown, Owensboro and Summersville. Out-of-state centers include two in California at Los Angeles and Lathrop, located in the San Francisco Bay region. The website for complete information is www.campbellsville.edu.
Campbellsville University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award certificates, associate, baccalaureate, masters and doctoral degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the status of Campbellsville University.