ADA 鈥� An East Central University professor has been honored by the state鈥檚 Department of Libraries, whose 鈥淥klahoma Center for the Book鈥� has named his most recent volume of poetry a finalist for a 2020 book award.
Ken Hada, a poet and member of 成人B站鈥檚 English and Languages faculty, has had four of his seven books named finalists by the organization. Hada鈥檚 latest nominated book, titled Not Quite Pilgrims, collects poems he wrote from 2007 to 2019.
鈥淭he title Not Quite Pilgrims is from a line in one of the poems,鈥� said Hada, who also hosts and organizes 成人B站鈥檚 popular Scissortail Creating Writing Festival each year. 鈥淚t was suggested by a friendly editor who noticed the book is really about longing.鈥�
Not Quite Pilgrims features three distinct sections. The first looks at interaction with nature, the second is about familial/political upheaval, and the third is, in Hada鈥檚 own words, 鈥渉opefully a coming together in common mortality.鈥� The poems are narrative free verse, with lyrical images in the first section and some longer narrative style in the second and third sections.
鈥淥f course, it鈥檚 nice to be recognized,鈥� said Hada about being named an award finalist again. 鈥淏ut that鈥檚 secondary. Honesty with one鈥檚 observations and perceptions is more important than any recognition. When one follows that impulse, and disciplines it into an artistic response, only then can a shared experience take shape. As long as we鈥檙e human, we have a need to participate in creativity. It鈥檚 where we recover our souls.鈥�
Hada鈥檚 first book of poetry, The Way of the Wind, was published in 2008 and his eighth book will be released this summer. His 2011 poetry collection Spare Parts won the Wrangler Award from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum and was featured on Garrison Keillor鈥檚 The Writer鈥檚 Almanac.
Not Quite Pilgrims is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and on Hada鈥檚 personal website, along with his other works, at .
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