Anyone who has not been hiding under a rock for the past year and a half knows that the financial crisis has hit hard.   Even inside the “Whitman bubble,”   major changes have had to be made to offset the damage.   For members of the English department and fellow literary enthusiasts, one of the worst casualties is the absence of the Walt Whitman Lecture from this year’s Visiting Writers Series.

In years past, the Walt Whitman Lecture has brought renowned writers such as Billy Collins, Galway Kinnell, Adrienne Rich and Richard Wilbur to campus. Last year’s lecturer, Charles Simic, was known for his magical realism style of prose poetry.

“The Visiting Writers budget was cut some this year, as were all budgets on campus,” said Associate Professor of Creative Writing and English Department Chair Katrina Roberts. “The lecture was not lost due to lack of support but, instead, as a result of the [economic downfall].”

Roberts, who helped organize the Visiting Writers Series when she arrived at Whitman, also helped promote the Walt Whitman Lecture. The lecture was designed a few years after the series began in order to celebrate National Poetry Month, which takes place in April.

For faculty members such as Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Robert Scott Elliott, the lecture is crucial because of the large impact it has on Whitman students.

“The Walt Whitman Lecture brings to Whitman the very best living poets for readings and talks that sometimes fill Cordiner Hall, which is a very exciting thing for poetry,” said Elliott. “The poets often have also conducted intimate question-and-answer sessions at which students could ask questions of craft.”

While the lecture’s cancellation comes as a shock to many students, Roberts hopes to mend its absence as soon as possible, despite the tough conditions.

“One of the real problems with the lecture is that it has never been funded by its own endowment, but instead by the generosity of the former president’s office,” said Roberts. “Dean-Provost Tim Kaufman-Osborn has been a tremendous supporter of the series and lecture, and I look forward to working with him in the future to see if we can bring it back.”

Roberts also applied for a grant from the  Humanities Washington organization  and is working “even more closely with other local organizations [and] the Walla Walla Public Library” in order to explore other funding possibilities.

Although the lecture itself is missing, Roberts has helped fill the vacancy with a new celebration of National Poetry Month.

“This year, instead of a single prominent Walt Whitman lecturer, I’ve scheduled a ‘poetry-fest,’ with three prominent poets coming to campus: David Biespiel, Sherman Alexie and Sarah Vap,” said Roberts.

Elliott and Roberts are also excited for many of this year’s visiting writers, who range from poets to fiction writers to nonfiction, science and experimental prose writers.

“All of these visitors will enhance the literary arts scene on campus… but I’m expecially looking forward to Lydia Davis, a prose writer, because I’ve taught her short fiction and admire the way she blurs and reconfigures the boundaries of the short story,” said Elliott.

Although the draw of the Walt Whitman lecture will be missed, the Visiting Writers Series promises to continue recognizing nationally renowned as well as emerging writers to enrich the minds of students.

“The goal of the series is to celebrate the written word and the literary arts on campus and to give students and the Whitman and Walla Walla communities a chance to hear and interact with a wide range of writers in various stages of their careers,” said Elliott.

“It took a bit of time to figure out the jigsaw puzzle of scheduling and funding this year, but despite the cuts I feel as though, with [the celebration] in April, and all the other events, we’ve got a tremendous lineup once again,” said Roberts. “I look forward to seeing what we can do not only to sustain but develop the Series and the Walt Whitman Lecture in upcoming years.”