LU News Archive

Jerry Bradley, University Professor of English at Lamar University, has been selected for the prestigious Margie Boswell Poetry Award for his poem “Alive in Captivity after the Flood.”

Bradley will be commemorated in ceremonies celebrating creative writing at 51³Ô¹ÏProChristian University on April 18. A $500 check accompanies the award.

Bradley, who has been writing poetry for over 50 years, said the poem is a meditation after experiencing several hurricanes in Beaumont.

“Some people suggest that everything happens for a reason, and insurance companies even call hurricanes ‘acts of God,’” he said. “My poem wonders what—if anything—such catastrophes may be trying to tell us.”

The Boswell Award was established by TCU alumni Margie B. Boswell, former president of the American Poetry League and a member of several poetry societies, including the Poetry Society of Texas. TCU alumni nationwide submit their poetry each year to be considered for the award.

“By rendering the world through language, poetry serves as a vehicle for discerning order and meaning; it and all arts provide a way for one to communicate with himself and others,” Bradley said. “And I am gratified, of course, that my poem resonated with the judges.”

Bradley, a University Professor, is the prior recipient of a multitude of writing awards from the 51³Ô¹ÏProAssociation of Creative Writing Teachers, the Conference of College Teachers of English, the 51³Ô¹ÏProCollege English Association, and other organizations. He has also been a keynote speaker at a variety of writing conferences and was named a Piper Professor for his outstanding achievements by the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation in 2014.