At the New Student Convocation last fall, Beth Ann Fennelly urged freshmen to invest in themselves and the community so they “get a return on that investment.” The poet and assistant professor of English knows what she’s talking about.
Fennelly’s investment in her talent, her family and UM has paid off well—in two published poetry collections and another book of essays due out this May, a cache of literary awards, a loyal student following, a marriage to fiction writer and fellow teacher Tom Franklin, and two children, 4-year-old Claire and 8-month-old Thomas.
That she is able to invest so fully is consistent with Fennelly’s “poetic sensibility,” said Joe Urgo, chair and professor of English.
“She exudes positive energy and inspiration, and has a spirit that sparks those around her to view the world as a place where good things may come into being,” Urgo said. “She has an uncanny way of motivating those around her to strive for greatness.”
Fennelly herself certainly strives for greatness. Her first book, Open House, won several awards, including the 2001 Kenyon Review Prize for a First Book. She has since received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Breadloaf Writer’s Conference and the Mississippi Arts Commission. Her second book of poems, Tender Hooks, was published by W.W. Norton in 2005 to critical acclaim. In spring of this year, just in time for Mother’s Day, Norton will release Fennelly’s Great with Child: Letters to a Young Mother.
The essays in Fennelly’s latest book are actually letters to a younger friend that focus on “how motherhood is so much better, harder, fiercer and wilder than [it’s portrayed] in the movies,” Fennelly said.
She said she wrote the letters during a “fallow” period of trying to write poetry. But since her son was born last summer, she’s written several new poems and is looking toward publishing a third collection. And, of course, she’s also focused on family and teaching. This spring she returned to the classroom after taking a semester off to spend time with her new son.
“I really enjoy turning students on to poetry,” Fennelly said. “A lot of students don’t know what poetry can do, but if you can figure out a poem, you can improve your life.”
Christine Davis, who is working toward her Master of Fine Arts, is a poet studying under Fennelly.
“Beth Ann is the reason I am studying poetry at Ole Miss,” Davis said. “I read Open House as an undergrad, and those poems influenced my own work in a way no other poems had. That book made me want to become a poet. From there, I knew I had to study with her. She motivates me to always work harder and challenges my writing, which I know helps makes me grow.”
Few doubt Fennelly’s presence and work have improved the College of Liberal Arts.
“She is our first resident poet,” said Dean Glenn Hopkins, “and she has brought all the dignity and inspiration one expects from such a position.”