April is National Poetry Month
The entrance to the Michael Kuperman Memorial (MKM) Poetry Library. (Photo by Corey Lepak)
When MFA student Michael Kuperman passed away in 2006, his family donated his beloved poetry collection to the USF English Department, creating the foundation of the space located on the third floor of Cooper Hall now known as the Michael Kuperman Memorial Poetry Library.
Now Natalie Scenters-Zapico, the director of the library and a poet herself, wants Kuperman’s love for poetry to “serve as a guiding light” for the library to encourage all students to utilize the space in a way that promotes the importance of poetry for the world and our sense of humanity.
“Poetry is for the people,” Scenters-Zapico said. “We’re here to show that poetry
has an integral place in our communities, but also an integral place in our sense
of selves within a community.”
“I hope that this collection also motivates people at USF to take poetry to heart
– to think about the ways they can use and integrate poetry in ways that prose maybe
doesn’t serve them. And I really hope that the Michael Kuperman Poetry Library becomes
a space that people not just at USF, but in the community, recognize with importance
for the study of poetry, prosody, and poetics.”
If you would like to visit or contribute to this collection, contact Natalie Scenters-Zapico.
The MKM library Poetry Library is a living library whose catalog grows through acquisitions and donations. (Photo by Corey Lepak)
(Photo by Corey Lepak)